The University of Illinois Springfield men's basketball team will begin their 2023-24 season in Lubbock, Texas at the Division II CCA Tip-Off Classic. The Classic features 12 schools from 8 different Division II Conferences. The Prairie Stars play West Texas A&M on Friday at 2:30 p.m. and Lincoln Memorial on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

UIS 

The Prairie Stars enter the year picked to finish second in the GLVC, while also receiving votes in the NABC Division II Preseason Poll. Three All-GLVC honorees in Jack Weber, Max Kunnert, and Jacob Hanna all return for the Stars along with the addition of quality recruits. UIS finished the 2022-23 GLVC season in second place after winning 13 conference games. Last year's team also set its NCAA era record number of wins in a season with 19.

West Texas A&M

The Buffs of West Texas A&M begin the year at 7th in the NABC Division II Preseason Poll. They are also picked to repeat as Lone Star Conference Champions. The Buffs finished the 2022-23 season with a record of 27-7 after falling in the Sweet Sixteen to Black Hills State.

Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters earned a 6th place ranking in the NABC Division II National Preseason Poll. LMU closed out the 2022-23 season with a record of 30-5 overall. The Railsplitters fell in the Elite Eight of last year's NCAA Division II National Tournament.

Tickets

Tickets are now on sale for the event with general admission seats costing $10. That ticket is good for the entire day, which features four games per day with some of the top teams in Division II Basketball.

All games will be broadcast-streamed on the LSC Digital Network with a pay-per-view format. Tickets to catch the games inside Rip Griffin Center can be purchased in advance at www.lcuchaps.com/tickets.