BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The sixth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team welcomes another loaded field to the Shirk Center for the sixth annual Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 14-15. IWU will take on Yeshiva University in game two of the tournament Saturday, Nov. 14, with Benedictine University and 12th-ranked Trinity University (Texas) squaring off in game one. The Titans will tipoff at 8 p.m., with the BU-Trinity contest scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.
    Illinois Wesleyan heads into the season after winning the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin regular season and tournament championships ahead of a run to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight. IWU posted a 25-6 overall record, including a 13-3 CCIW mark. Yeshiva travels to Bloomington looking for its first wins of the season, carrying an 0-1 record into Saturday's matchup. The Maccabees most recently slipped at St. Joseph's (Maine), 83-70.  Trinity won two games at the HSU Classic and will trek north with a 2-0 standing. The Tigers edged Chapman, 86-84, before cruising by California Lutheran, 96-71. Like IWU, BenU will open its campaign at Shirk this weekend after posting a 10-16 record last season. The Eagles were picked third in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference preseason poll.
    Fans can catch a live stream of the game on the CCIW Network with Eric Stock and Joel Swanson returning to the air waves as the voices of Titan basketball, while live stats will also be provided. Links on can be found on the men's basketball page of IWUsports.com.

WEEKEND RECOGNITIONS: Illinois Wesleyan will recognize the Titan men's basketball teams that advanced to Kansas City in the NAIA Tournament prior to tipoff Saturday, Nov. 14.

WE LOVE LID LIFTERS: Illinois Wesleyan has made a habit of starting off the season on the right foot in recent years, as evident by the Titans' 10-game win streak in season openers. Illinois Wesleyan defeated Illinois College, 71-67, in last year's Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational. IWU's last season-opening loss came in the 2015-16 season, where the Green and White were edged, 88-86, by Benedictine.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Titans enjoy one of the greatest athletic venues in NCAA Division III. The Shirk Center has been home to more than 800 Titan basketball games between both the men and women. The men hold a 332-70 record on their home floor (.825 win pct.).

SPEAR STEPS UP AS SPONSOR: The Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, now in its sixth year, is in its third year with former Titan standout Bob Spear serving as sponsor. A 1977 graduate and three-time First Team Academic All-American, Spear scored 1035 points with a 49.9 field goal percentage over the course of his career. He grabbed 448 career rebounds.  To this day, Spear remains the program record holder in games played as the Quincy, Ill. native appeared in 115 games during his four-year career. He was a two-time Second Team All-CCIW honoree and helped lead the Titans to three NAIA Tournament appearances.

SIKMA HISTORY: This weekend will mark the sixth rendition of the Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, which began in 2021 and has consistently treated the Bloomington-Normal community to top-tier #d3hoops matchups early in the season. Illinois Wesleyan has won the tournament three times, with the Titans claiming the inaugural event as well as the two most recent. IWU edged out 17th-ranked UW-Oshkosh, 65-63, in 2021-22 and would go on to make a run into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. UW-Stevens Point won the 2022 Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, while Mary Hardin-Baylor topped the field in 2023. The Titans knocked off No. 24 Cal Lutheran (93-81) and No. 2 UW-Platteville (86-66) to hoist the title in 2024, before notching wins over Illinois College (71-67) and UW-Oshkosh (75-68) in 2025.

TALE OF THE TAPE: IWU holds a combined 19-8 record against this weekend's field, with a majority of the history coming against in-state foe Benedictine. The Titans lead the tally with the Eagles, 15-6, and hold a 3-0 record against Yeshiva in a highly-publicized all-time series. Trinity (Texas) holds the upperhand against IWU, winning two of three all-time matchups.
    Since the historic initial meeting Dec. 30, 2021, the Titans have opened up a 3-0 record against Yeshiva all-time. The two tangled last season, with IWU escaping with a narrow 72-71 win Dec. 29, 2025. Mason Funk dropped 20 points as one of five double-digit scorers. Casen Lawrence followed with 14 off the bench.
    Illinois Wesleyan and Trinity last met on the hardwood Dec. 28, 2009. Playing in the Tigers' home tournament, the Titans toppled TU 96-67. Jordan Zimmer went for 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting in just 20 minutes of action, while Ryan Connolly added an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double off the bench. The Tigers won the meetings in 2003 and 2004 by a combined seven points.
    The 21-game series with BenU goes all the way back to 1975, a one-point win for the Eagles. The Titans took six of the next seven to control the all-time tally. Benedictine has triumphed in each of the past two matchups, edging IWU by three total points. BU last defeated the Titans 88-86 at the Shirk Center in Illinois Wesleyan's season opener, Nov. 14, 2015. The win came nearly one year to the date of the prior meeting, a 61-60 win for BenU Nov. 15, 2014.

PRESEASON PRAISE: For the first time in program history, Illinois Wesleyan University saw multiple players reel in Preseason All-America status from D3hoops.com. Senior Mason Funk and junior Josh Fridman landed second and third team honors, respectively.
    Funk and Fridman are the seventh and eighth Titans to reel in the preseason honor since D3hoops began announcing them in 2010. In addition to Fridman's selection last year, the duo join Nick Roper (third team - 2024), Luke Yoder (fifth team - 2023), Matthew Leritz (second team - 2021), Andrew Ziemnik (third team - 2013), and Doug Sexauer (third team - 2010). Overall, IWU's selections were two of three College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin student-athletes to garner preseason praise alongside Wheaton's Soren Richardson (second team). Additionally, IWU and top-ranked Mary Washington were the only two programs with multiple honorees.

BENCH BOSS: In his 21st season leading his alma mater, Ron Rose has compiled a 375-169 overall record. His career mark includes 201 CCIW wins, the most of any active CCIW head coach.
The Titans won the 2013, 2014, 2022, 2024, and 2026 CCIW titles outright and shared the 2018 regular season championship with Augustana. Illinois Wesleyan claimed the 2021 CCIW Championship in a COVID-shortened season as well as the 2025 CCIW Tournament title.

POLLING STATION:  Illinois Wesleyan is one of nine programs that have appeared in at least 200 D3hoops.com Top-25 rankings. In fact, the Titans' 218 appearances in the weekly poll are fifth-most all-time as well as the most in the CCIW. They are currently ranked No. 6 in the poll.

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS: Mason Funk became the program's 28th Academic All-America honoree at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season. His selection increased IWU's national lead on Duke, Kansas, UCLA, and Indiana. Duke's 22 selections are second-most all-time, while Kansas is third at 21. UCLA, Indiana, & Stanford are tied with 20 each.
Furthermore, IWU's all-time Academic All-American list currently sits at 185, which ranks in the top-25 across NCAA Division I, II, and III, as well as inside the top-10 in Division III.

BY THE NUMBERS: IWU has seen plenty of success on the hardwood in its storied history, highlighted by the Titans' NCAA National Championship in 1997. Overall, IWU has won 33 CCIW championships, made 28 tournament appearances, advanced to 20 "Sweet Sixteens," appeared in 13 "Elite Eights," and gone to six final fours.

CCIW PRESEASON POLL: IWU was predicted to finish runner up in the CCIW as the league office announced its annual preseason poll last month. The Green and White garnered three first-place votes and 59 points to place second behind Elmhurst. The Bluejays reeled in six first-place votes to top the poll with 62 points.
    Wheaton rounded out the top-three with 49 points. Carthage (43) and North Park (30) were slotted fourth and fifth, respectively. Carroll and Millikin tied for sixth with 24 points each. North Central (22) and Augustana (11) wrapped up the poll in eighth and ninth, respectively.

ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan hits the road for the first time this season at it embarks on a seven-game roadtrip. The first stop on the nearly month-long trip is Delaware, Ohio, the site of this year's rendition of the Great Lakes Invitational. There, the Titans will battled Denison Friday, Nov. 20, at 1 p.m. ET before going up against St. Joseph's (Maine) Saturday, Nov. 21. Both teams are receiving votes in the national poll.