Valparaiso Beacons vs. UIC Flames: How to watch live stream, TV channel, NCAA Basketball start time

How to watch Valparaiso vs. Illinois-Chicago basketball game

By Scout Staff

Jan 18, 2025 at 9:00 am ET • 3 min read

Who's Playing

UIC Flames @ Valparaiso Beacons

Current Records: UIC 11-6, Valparaiso 10-8

How To Watch

When: Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 4 p.m. ET
Where: Athletics-Recreation Center -- Valparaiso, Indiana
TV: ESPN Plus
Follow: CBS Sports App
Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
Ticket Cost: $7.00

What to Know

Valparaiso will be in front of their home fans on Saturday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They and the UIC Flames will face off in a Missouri Valley battle at 4:00 p.m. ET at Athletics-Recreation Center. The Beacons are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 77.9 points per game this season.

Valparaiso will face UIC after failing to hit the over/under the oddsmakers set for them on Tuesday which, to be fair, was an imposing 159.5 points. Valparaiso fell 71-64 to Belmont. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for the Beacons in their matchups with the Bruins: they've now lost seven in a row.

Despite their defeat, Valparaiso saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Justus McNair, who went 6 for 11 en route to 19 points plus three steals and two blocks, was perhaps the best of all. The dominant performance also gave McNair a new career-high in threes (five). Another player making a difference was Cooper Schwieger, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Meanwhile, it may have taken double overtime to finish the job, but UIC ultimately got the result they hoped for on Wednesday. They secured a 97-93 W over Murray State. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.

UIC's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Javon Jackson, who went 12 for 20 en route to 30 points plus five assists. Jackson had some trouble finding his footing against Bradley on Saturday, so this was a nice turnaround. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyem Freeman, who went 6 for 8 en route to 21 points plus five rebounds.

Valparaiso's loss dropped their record down to 10-8. As for UIC, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-6 record this season.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Valparaiso hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 77.9 points per game. However, it's not like UIC struggles in that department as they've been averaging 79.8. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.

Valparaiso was able to grind out a solid win over UIC in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, winning 84-77. Does Valparaiso have another victory up their sleeve, or will UIC turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.