CHICAGO -- The UIC men's basketball team will look to punch its ticket to its first Horizon League Championship game since 2004 on Monday, March 9 when the Flames face top-seeded Wright State in the semifinals of the Horizon League Basketball Championship. Monday's game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU, with Jason Benetti and Dan Dakich on the call.

3 POINT PLAY
• UIC advanced to the semifinals of the Horizon League Basketball Championship for the first time since 2017 with a 67-61 victory over Youngstown State Thursday (March 5) evening.
• The Flames secured their 10th conference victory of the year with an 84-67 win against Detroit Mercy Feb. 27, the third consecutive year UIC has 10 or more conference wins. It marks the first time in program history the Flames have three consecutive 10+ win seasons in league action.
• Tarkus Ferguson is just the fourth Division I player since 1992-93 to have 1,600 points, 700 rebounds and 600 assists in a career.

SERIES STUFF
• UIC and Wright State split the regular season series, with both teams protecting their home court. The Flames picked up a 76-72 win over the Raiders on Jan. 12 to hand Wright State its first conference loss of the year. The Raiders responded with a 75-58 win on their home court on Feb. 14.
• Tarkus Ferguson has led the team in the two game with a team-leading 15.0 points per game and team-high 7.0 rebounds per contest.
• Wright State's victory on Feb. 14 snapped a three-game winning streak for the Flames in the series after sweeping the season series a year ago.

FLAMES ROUT JAGUARS
• UIC advanced to the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Basketball Championship with a 93-59 blowout of IUPUI on March 3.
• The 34-point margin of victory matched UIC's largest margin of victory in a Horizon League tournament game.
• Braelen Bridges recorded his third double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Tarkus Ferguson once again did a little bit of 14 points, six rebounds and six assists.

ROAD BLOWOUTS
• UIC has two 30-point road wins this year, both coming in conference play. The Flames defeated Oakland, 80-50, on Jan. 23 and Northern Kentucky, 73-43, on Feb. 16.
• UIC is one of four DI programs with two 30-point road wins this year and just one of two schools (Gonzaga) with two 30-point road wins in conference play.
• Gonzaga leads the country with three 30-point road wins this year, while UIC, Furman and Louisiana Tech all have two road wins by such a margin.

FLAMES LOCK DOWN NORSE
• UIC's defense smothered Northern Kentucky en route to a 73-43 road win on Feb. 16.
• The 43 points allowed by UIC were the third-fewest in the Flames' 39-year history of DI competition, while the 43 points are tied for the seventh-fewest scored by a Division I home team in any game this season.
• The Flames limited Northern Kentucky to just 22.0% shooting, the third-worst shooting performance by a DI home team this year and the lowest allowed by UIC in any game since at least the 2010-11 season.