Illinois Chicago at Wisconsin Milwaukee

The Panthers have had to make do without James Eayrs who has missed every game with a bad back. They thought JUCO transfer Michael Tyler was going to be a big time contributor right away with his 17.5 ppg and 12 boards on the JUCO level, but he is getting less than five minutes per game, and has not come close to living up to the billing. The Flames on the other hand, have had a huge positive surprise with the upgraded play of Zavion Neely. Neely averaged less than two points per game in limited action last year, and has emerged as the Flames’ best player averaging 16 per game, two steals and two assists to go with it. The Panthers are minus what they expected to have, while the Flames are above what they thought they had, so this one a lot closer than generous spread indicates. I'll go with Ill-Chi here.