CHICAGO -- The UIC men's basketball team is set for its second appearance on national television this year as the Flames will take on Northern Kentucky Friday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. Friday's broadcast is part of the Horizon League's "Anything Can Happen on Friday" partnership with ESPN, with Jordan Bernfield and Rob Kennedy set to call the action inside Credit Union 1 Arena.

3 POINT PLAY

• UIC fell to 1-3 in Horizon League play with a 64-62 buzzer-beating defeat at Milwaukee on Sunday (Jan. 5). After Tarkus Ferguson tied things up at 62 with 4.2 seconds remaining, Milwaukee's Te'Jon Lucas' raced down the court and beat the horn with a layup to give the Panthers the two-point victory.

• The Flames lead the conference in blocked shots, swatting away 66 shots this year. Wright State is second-best, having only recorded 50 blocks this season.

• Tarkus Ferguson is one of two active players in Division I basketball with at least 1,300 career points, 600 career rebounds and 500 career assists. He is joined by Merrimack's Juvaris Hayes.

SERIES STUFF

• Friday's nationally televised game is the seventh all-time meeting between the two programs.

• Northern Kentucky leads the all-time series, which began on Jan. 22, 2016, by a 6-2 margin. UIC was victorious in the last meeting, a 69-67 win at home on Feb. 3, 2019, which snapped a streak of five consecutive Norse victories.

• Jamie Ahale's 3-pointer from the right corner with 2.5 seconds remaining lifted the Flames past first-place Northern Kentucky, 69-67, last February. Tarkus Ferguson nearly had a triple double in the meeting, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

• The Norse are led by Dantez Walton, who leads the team and ranks third in the Horizon League with 18.4 points per game.

CLEAN THE GLASS

• In UIC's 71-66 victory over Cleveland State on Dec. 28, the Flames dominated the rebounding battle. UIC outrebounded the Vikings, 36-21, marking the largest rebounding margin for the Flames this year (+15).

• Individually, Braelen Bridges recorded a game-high 13 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.

• Jordan Blount added seven rebounds, setting a season high for the senior in his third game back from injury.

• UIC improved to 4-1 on the year when winning the rebounding battle.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

• Braelen Bridges tallied a pair of double-doubles in a four-game span. Most recently, Bridges scored 11 points and brought in a game-high 13 rebounds in a victory over Cleveland State (Dec. 28). The performance came two weeks after a 14-point, 14-rebound game against DePaul on Dec. 14.

• Bridges tied a season-high with the 14 points while setting a new high with the 14 rebounds. His 29 minutes played also set a new season/career best for the sophomore in his first year with the program.

• Godwin Boahen recorded UIC's second double-double of the year on Dec. 7 with 13 points and 12 rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne.

• Junior Michael Diggins recorded his first-career double-double and the first double-double for UIC in 2019-20 on Nov. 16 against Bradley with a team-leading 13 points and 11 rebounds.

CLOSE CALLS

• The Flames have played in a number of close games this year, with six contests being decided by five points or less and four of the six contests being determined by three points or less. UIC is 2-4 in games decided by 1-5 points and 1-3 in games determined by a single possession.

• UIC's lone single-possession victory came in the season opener, as Godwin Boahen's 3-point play with 2.6 seconds left lifted the Flames past Olivet Nazarene, 75-72, on Nov. 5.

• The Flames' first heartbreaker of the year came against Florida Atlantic on Dec. 1, when the Owls were fouled with 0.4 seconds left and the score tied at 70. After missing the first free throw, FAU's Farlis Silins hit the second to give FAU the 71-70 victory.

• UIC led in-state rival Illinois State, 66-64, in the closing seconds of their Dec. 18 contest until the Redbirds' Zach Copeland connected on a 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds left to give ISU the 67-66 victory.

• The Flames and Milwaukee were tied at 62 following Tarkus Ferguson's layup with 4.2 seconds remaining, but Milwaukee's Te'Jon Lucas' buzzer-beater lifted the Panthers past UIC, 64-62.

• Additionally, UIC picked up a five-point win over Cleveland State on Dec. 28 and suffered a four-point loss to Mercer on Nov. 23.