CHICAGO -- UIC will look to extend its season-long winning streak of four games when it travels to Rochester, Mich., on Friday, Feb. 2, when the Flames square off against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at the Athletics Center O'rena. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. CT and be televised nationally on ESPNU.

The Flames (12-11, 7-3 Horizon League) have won seven of their last eight games since Jan. 4. Since falling to Oakland on Jan. 15, UIC has rattled off four consecutive victories. That is the longest active winning streak in the Horizon League, and the longest for the Flames under head coach Steve McClain.

The four-game surge is the longest for any UIC squad since the 2012-13 team won eight consecutive contests between Nov. 17 - Dec. 15, 2012. The Flames have also won four consecutive road games for the first time since the latter portion of the 2003-04 campaign. That year UIC won seven consecutive road tilts with the final two coming in true road tests in the 2004 Horizon League Tournament.

The Golden Grizzlies (14-9, 6-4 Horizon League) had won five in a row before dropping a road game at Wright State on Sunday, Jan. 28. Oakland was held to only 51 points, their lowest output in any conference game this season.

STARTING FIVE

• UIC has won seven of its last eight games dating back to Jan. 4 at IUPUI.
• The Flames (7-3) have achieved their best start in #HLMBB play since 2002-03 (8-2).
• UIC has won four consecutive road games for the first time under head coach Steve McClain, and the first time overall since the 2003-2004 season.
• The Flames have swept the regular season series against both IUPUI and Milwaukee.
• UIC's current four-game winning streak is the longest since the 2012-13 season (8).

A WIN VS. OAKLAND WOULD GIVE UIC...

• The eighth Horizon League victory of the season and fifth away from home.
• The program's first winning streak of at least five games since Nov. 17-Dec. 15, 2012 (8).
• Eight wins in Horizon League play for the first time since 2007-08 (9-9).

ROAD WARRIORS

• UIC has won four consecutive road games for the first time under head coach Steve McClain. The streak started with a win at IUPUI on Jan. 4 and continued with wins at Youngstown State, Cleveland State and Milwaukee  on Jan. 18, Jan. 20 and Jan. 29, respectively.
• The Flames have won four consecutive road games for the first time since Jan. 26-March 9, 2004 (7).
• UIC's 18-point victory at Milwaukee on Monday was the largest in a road game under McClain. The Flames also downed Youngstown State by 14 points on Jan. 18
• Prior to this year the Flames had not won a true road game by more than five points since McClain took over.
• UIC's last road winning streak of at least four games (7) spanned from Jan. 26-March 9, 2004. The final two games were true road games at Butler and at Milwaukee in the #HLMBB Tournament.

CLOSING TIME

• UIC is 10-0 this season when leading at the half. The squad has two second-half comebacks, erasing halftime deficits to top IUPUI on Jan. 4 (A) and Jan. 27 (H).
• The Flames are shooting 50.2 percent from the floor, 42.9 percent from downtown and 80.2 percent from the free throw line in the second half of their seven Horizon League wins.
• UIC is 0-2 when tied at half (FW, at WSU).

BLOCK PARTY

• UIC leads the Horizon League and ranks third nationally with 6.8 blocks per game.
• Michigan State is the NCAA leader through games of Jan. 31 with 8.0 blocks per game.
• Louisville (7.0) also ranks 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 blocked 11 shots on Jan. 18 at Youngstown State, marking the fourth time this season that the Flames had double-digit rejections.

SOPHOMORE SCORERS

• In all 23 games, UIC has been led (or tied) in the scoring department by five sophomores.
• Six total sophomores on the roster account for 76.7 percent of the team's scoring this season with 1,275 out of 1,663 total points.
• UIC's top-three point producers - Marcus Ottey (13.6), Dikembe Dixson (13.6) and Dominique Matthews (9.2) - are all in their second seasons of athletic eligibility.

ROTATION ROULETTE

• UIC has used six different starting lineup combinations in its 23 games this season.
• UIC has used the same lineup in the last eight games (7-1) and nine times overall (7-2).
• The trio of Tai Odiase, Jordan Blount and Dikembe Dixson has started all 23 games.
• Dixson (63) and Tarkus Ferguson (50) have each started every game of their respective careers for the Flames.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES

• Oakland enters Friday's meeting with a record of 14-9 and a 6-4 mark in Horizon League play. The Golden Grizzlies saw a five-game winning streak snapped last time out at Wright State (Jan. 28).
• Redshirt senior Kendrick Nunn is one of the nation's most prolific scorers. The Chicagoan leads the League and ranks second in the NCAA behind Oklahoma's Trae Young with 26.4 points per game. Nunn scored 36 points against the Flames in the first meeting this season.
• Nunn leads the nation with 240 3-point field goal attempts and he is shooting 41.3 percent from downtown.
• The Golden Grizzlies rank sixth nationally as a team with 409 assists. Brailen Neely is first in the conference and 24^th nationally with 129 helpers.

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