Two teams heading in opposite directions match up in the Horizon League on Saturday afternoon as Valparaiso travels to Chicago to face UIC at 3 p.m. on CSN.
The Crusaders (19-4, 9-1) are trying to hold on for the Horizon League's regular season title for the second consecutive season as they've been one of the strongest mid-major teams in the country. Junior forward Alec Peters (17.1 ppg) continues to excel as a well-rounded scorer and he's joined on the roster by a number of standouts from the Chicagoland area.
Valparaiso has plenty of players with Chicago roots as the roster includes Keith Carter (Proviso East), Darien Walker (Simeon), Lexus Williams (Marist) and Jubril Adekoya (Andrew).
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UIC (3-18, 1-9) is coming off of its first conference win under new coach Steve McClain as the Flames beat Cleveland State last weekend. Freshman Dikembe Dixson (17.6 ppg) continues to have a very productive inaugural campaign and UIC features a lot of young talent from the Chicagoland area.
Former local standouts on the UIC roster include Tai Odiase (Homewood-Flossmoor), Paris Burns (Curie), Gabe Snider (Whitney Young), Julian Torres (Bolingbrook), Dominique Matthews (St. Rita) and Lance Whitaker (Bartlett).
These two teams played on Jan. 2 with the Crusaders winning 75-47.