CHICAGO -- UIC opens Horizon League play, and a three-game road trip, on Thursday, Dec. 28, when it visits Wright State at the Nutter Center in Fairborn, Ohio.

Prior to a brief holiday break, UIC (5-8) dismantled Trinity Christian in its final nonconference tuneup on Dec. 23, 84-45. The 45 points that the Trolls posted were the fewest for any Flames opponent this season. UIC matched a season low for the fourth time with only 11 turnovers Saturday. In all three of those games the Flames took a team turnover in the final minute by allowing the shot clock to expire without making an attempt to score.

UIC has been led largely on offense this season by its six-member sophomore class. That group has accounted for more than 74 percent of the team's 917 points this season and the top three point producers for the Flames are all in their second seasons of action. Last time out against Trinity Christian, Dikembe Dixson (25) and Dominique Matthews (20) each tallied season-high point totals as they combined to score 45 of UIC's 84 points in a 39-point victory.

Wright State (8-5) is coming off one of the most talked-about nonconference victories for any Horizon League team this season. On Friday, Dec. 22, the Raiders went into a hostile environment in Atlanta and took down ACC foe Georgia Tech, 85-81. WSU trailed by nine points at the break, but had five players score in double figures and two record double-doubles in the comeback victory. One of those Raiders with a double-double at Georgia Tech, redshirt freshman Loudon Love, was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week on Tuesday.

BLOCK PARTY

• As a team, UIC leads the Horizon League and ranks fourth nationally with 7.2 blocks per game.
• Michigan State is the NCAA leader through games of Dec. 25 with 8.8 blocks per game.
• Louisville (8.4) and Minnesota (7.3) 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 at Illinois State on Dec. 19, marking the third time this season that the Flames had at least as many in a game.

NOT IN TAI'S HOUSE

• Tai Odiase owns 287 blocks, most in program history, after adding two at Northern  Illinois on Dec. 21.
• The Glenwood, Ill., native ranks second among active NCAA players in total career blocks (287) and third in blocks per game (2.68).
• He currently ranks 14^th in NCAA with 2.92 blocks per game this season, and is averaging 2.0 blocks per game in eight career contests vs. Wright State.
• The senior's season-high seven blocks against Wisconsin-Parkside on Dec. 6  marked the seventh time in 61 games that he has swatted at least as many shots in a single game.
• He has rejected at least one shot in 93 of his 107 career games (86.9%).
• With continued health, Odiase will have a chance to catch the Horizon League's all-time leader, former Youngstown State standout Damian Eargle, at 309 blocks.

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 six contests is +9.2.
• The team's +19 margin in its last game, a 39-point win against Trinity Christian, was the largest of the season so far.
• 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 18th in the NCAA with 39.61 rebounds per game.

DOUBLING DOWN

• Jordan Blount had the first double-double of his career, and of the season for UIC, with 13 points and 10 rebounds at NIU on Dec. 21.
• UIC has three other active players with at least seven career double-doubles.
• Tai Odiase has 14 career double-doubles; Dikembe Dixson owns eight; Tarkus Ferguson tallied seven as a freshman last year.
• Ferguson did it with points and rebounds five times, points and assists once, and rebounds and assists once.

More notes, statistics and information for Thursday's game can be found in the UIC Game Notes PDF linked above.