CHICAGO -- The UIC men's basketball team continues its longest homestand of the season and closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Sunday afternoon when the Northern Illinois Huskies come calling to Credit Union 1 Arena. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. Tickets remain available through Ticketmaster.

The Flames (3-7, 0-2 Horizon League) opened the four-game homestand on Tuesday against crosstown rival DePaul. In a battle until the bitter end, the Blue Demons scored nine unanswered points down the stretch to escape with a 72-66 victory. Following Sunday's contest against another in-state foe, UIC will be idle for nine days before hopping back into conference play on Thursday, Dec. 30 against Purdue Fort Wayne. That weekend concludes with a visit from defending Horizon League champion Cleveland State on New Year's Day.

NIU (3-6, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) is under the direction of first-year head coach Rashon Burno. The Huskies have picked up two wins in their last three games during the month of December, including an 11-point win at Chicago State on Monday. The team also made noise to open the season by traveling to Seattle and winning at Washington on opening night.

MATCHUP BREAKDOWN
•    The Flames and Huskies are meeting for the second consecutive season after the last prior matchup took place during the 2017 campaign.
•    UIC claimed a thriller in DeKalb to open the 2020-21 season a year ago. Trailing by as many as 22 points with just over 16 minutes to go, the Flames stormed back and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with less than 20 seconds remaining to take the lead and eventually win. It was the first career victory as a Division I head coach for UIC's Luke Yaklich.
•    UIC owns a 25-17 lead in the all-time series.
•    The Flames have won 11 of 14 matchups in Chicago. Prior to a setback at home in 2015, the Flames ripped off 10 consecutive wins against NIU at Credit Union 1 Arena (UIC Pavilion) dating back to Feb. 17, 1992.

DISH IT OUT
•    UIC newcomer Kevin Johnson has led UIC's offense as the point guard this season, handing out a team-leading 60 assists while only turning the ball over 27 total times.
•    Johnson's 6.0 assists per game and 60 total assists both rank second in the Horizon League. He ranks 12^th nationally in assists per game and 17th in the country in total assists.
•    Jalen Warren and Johnson rank third and fourth, respectively, in assist-to-turnover ratio among all Horizon League players. Warren's rate is 2.47 with Johnson's at 2.22.
•    As a team, the Flames have 158 assists on the year, most in the Horizon League.
•    UIC has compiled at least nine assists in all 10 games this season, and at least 15 helpers on five occasions.
•    UIC dished out a season-high 28 assists in its 91-50 win over Trinity Christian on Nov. 16. The 28 helpers are the most under Luke Yaklich and were just three shy of matching the program record for most assists in a game (31, twice, last vs. Northeastern Illinois on Dec. 9, 1987).

MARS MAKES IT HAPPEN
•    Demaria Franklin leads the Flames in scoring (16.7), rebounding (8.2) and steals (1.6) this year.
•    The Niles North High School product ranks sixth in the Horizon League in both scoring and rebounding, and ninth in steals. He is second in the conference with four double-doubles
•    Franklin has scored 20+ points five times in 10 games in a UIC uniform, including a season-high 24 points last time out against the DePaul Blue Demons on Tuesday night.

CLOSING IN ON 1K
•    UIC's Michael Diggins is on pace to surpass 1,000 career points this season.
•    Entering Sunday's game against NIU, Diggins has score 958 career points, 42 shy of reaching the milestone. He is coming off a season-high 12-point performance against DePaul on Tuesday.
•    Diggins scored 327 points in the 2019-20 season, his highest single-season output with the Flames, and averaged a personal-best 11.3 points per game in last year's pandemic-shortened season.
•    Upon reaching the mark, Diggins will become the 27^th player in program history to score 1,000 career points, and the first since his former teammate, guard Godwin Boahen, accomplished the feat on Feb. 24, 2019.
•    Diggins has played with five other 1,000-point scorers at UIC since his arrival in 2017: Tarkus Ferguson (1,646), Marcus Ottey (1,579), Boahen (1,420), Dikembe Dixson (1,250) and Tai Odiase (1,153).

BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK
•    According to KenPom.com, UIC ranks as the seventh most experienced squad in the NCAA (through Dec. 15) with an average 2.75 years of collegiate playing experience on the roster.
•    Defending Horizon League champion Cleveland State ranks third nationally in that category (2.88), while another conference foe, Detroit Mercy, is 10th at 2.72. Purdue Fort Wayne, UIC's next conference opponent is 12th in the country at 2.69.
•    The first team the Flames faced this season, Dayton, is ranked as the least experienced team at 0.37, while a team UIC will later face twice this season, Green Bay, is just ahead of the Flyers at 0.57 years.
•    Sunday's opponent, NIU, is ranked No. 74 at 2.30.