DeKALB, Ill. -- UIC will play its penultimate nonconference game of the season, and the final one away from home, on Thursday, Dec. 21, when it visits the Northern Illinois Huskies at the Convocation Center at 7 p.m. CT.

Tuesday's game will be streamed on ESPN3 and a free audio stream of the hometown call with Jonathan Hood and Chris Bleck will be available on UICFlames.com. Links to both broadcasts can be found in the blue box on this page.

The Flames (4-7) began the quick two-game road trip on Tuesday night against Illinois State in Normal, Ill. UIC shot close to 49 percent from the field for the game, and 54 percent in the second half, but was done in by 20 turnovers in a one-point loss to the Redbirds. The Flames won the rebounding battle for the fourth consecutive game, outworking ISU on the glass 44-35. Jordan Blount had 11 rebounds, the most in his career, and most in a single game for any UIC player this season. Marcus Ottey came off the bench to score a game-high 23 points in a career-high 37 minutes for the Flames., while Dikembe Dixson added 19 points, 11 of which came in 16 attempts from the free throw line. 

NIU (6-5) is coming off a close game at Marquette on Monday night, losing 79-70. UIC is the third Horizon League team on the Huskies' schedule this season already. Northern Illinois crushed Green Bay in the season opener on Nov. 14, 85-65, before falling to Milwaukee on Nov. 29, 75-62. Like Thursday's game, both contests took place at the Convocation Center.

BLOCK PARTY

• As a team, UIC leads the Horizon League and ranks fourth nationally with 7.3 blocks per game.
• Michigan State is the NCAA leader through games of Dec. 19 with 8.8 blocks per game.
• Louisville (8.5) and Minnesota (7.5) also rank ahead of the Flames.
• On Dec. 6 against UW-Parkside, UIC matched a high in the Steve McClain era for the third time with 12 blocks.
• UIC also had 10 blocks last time out at Illinois State, marking the third time this season that the Flames had at least as many in a game.

BENCH BOOST

• UIC's leading scorer has come off the bench in six of team's 11 games, including last time out at Illinois State.
• UIC's bench is averaging 26.5 points per game through 11 contests with a scoring margin of +7.2 against the opposition's reserves.
• The team's second-leading scorer, Marcus Ottey, averages 11.9 points per game and has come off the bench all but one time this year.

BETTER ON THE BOARDS

• UIC was outrebounded in six of its first seven games before recently reversing the trend.
• After being outgained on the glass by an average of 2.8 rebounds per game over the first seven, the Flames' average rebounding margin for the last four contests is +7.8.
• Four players - Tai Odiase, Clint Robinson, Jordan Blount and Dikembe Dixson  - average at least four rebounds per game for UIC.
• The Flames set a program record with 1,426 rebounds last season, ranking 18^th in the NCAA with 39.61 rebounds per game.

FRESH FACES

• The Flames welcome three freshmen and one junior transfer to the program this year.
• Junior Naradain James earned All-Jayhawk Conference honorable mention after averaging 11.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game at Garden City Community College in Kansas last season.
• UIC's three freshmen all hail from outside of Illinois. Michael Diggins is from Las Vegas, Jacob Wiley is from Houston and Ralph Bissainthe is from North Miami, Fla.
• Diggins' cousin, Skylar, was a three-time All-American at Notre Dame and currently plays for the WNBA's Dallas Wings.

More statistics, notes and information can be found in the UIC Game Notes PDF linked in the blue box above.