THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• UIC and Murray State are preparing to meet for the fourth time in their history, with the Racers holding a 2-1 edge in the abbreviated series.

• The Flames and Racers were two of the three new additions (along with Belmont) to join the Missouri Valley Conference prior to last season.

• Before last year, UIC and MSU competed in a home-and-home series during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, with each team successfully defending its home court.

• MSU was one of UIC's two single-play conference opponents last year, with the Racers winning the only matchup between the schools in 2022-23, prevailing 81-64 on Jan. 14, 2023, at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.

• Current sophomore guard CJ Jones had 12 points and three assists in last year's game at Murray State

MORE ON MURRAY STATE

• Murray State currently stands at 4-9 this season and 1-1 in MVC play, returning to conference action Tuesday after splitting a pair of Valley contests just after Thanksgiving (79-72 win at home over Bradley; 76-72 loss at Illinois State).

• The Racers are coming off a 75-54 non-conference victory over Middle Tennessee last Saturday at the CFSB Center.

• MTSU is one of three common opponents for both UIC and Murray State (the Flames defeated the Blue Raiders, 70-40 on Nov. 24 at the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in the Bahamas). The two schools have also faced Illinois State (UIC dropped a 69-64 home decision on Nov. 30) and Little Rock (UIC won 86-71 at home on Nov. 10; MSU lost 80-66 on the road on Dec. 18).

• Senior guard Rob Perry leads Murray State in scoring (14.0 ppg.), one of five Racers averaging in double figures. Junior forward Nick Ellington is tops on the MSU squad and sixth in the MVC in rebounding (6.9 rpg.).

WINNING WITH DEFENSE

• For much of the season, UIC has ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation (and tops in the Missouri Valley Conference) in several major defensive categories.

• As of Monday, the Flames lead the nation in three-point percentage defense (.245), and blocks (7.0 bpg.).

• Since blocks became an official NCAA statistic in 1985-86, only one MVC team has finished an entire season averaging better than 5.0 bpg. (Wichita State had 5.1 bpg. in 2013-14), and just five have done so in conference play (WSU holds the record with 5.6 bpg. in 2013-14). 

• The UIC school record for blocks per game in one season is 6.7 bpg., set during the 2017-18 campaign.

• The Flames also rank 14th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.378) and 19th in scoring defense (62.8 ppg.).

• In the four-year Luke Yaklich era, UIC is 14-1 when holding opponents to 60 points or fewer, the lone loss coming back on Nov. 26 in the Flames' 58-57 last-second defeat to UNCG.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

• As of Monday, senior guard Toby Okani ranks fifth nationally in blocks per game (2.69).

• Okani leads the MVC in blocks, defensive rebounds (6.54) and double-doubles (tied-3), while ranking second in The Valley in overall rebounding (7.92) and tied for seventh in steals (1.62).

• Okani is the only player in the MVC to lead the conference in three statistical categories (no other player leads in more than two).

• Okani is also one of three players in the MVC to rank in the top 10 in the conference in the three primary defensive categories (rebounding, steals and blocks).

• Okani has recorded at least three blocks in seven games this season, including a season-high six rejections in the Nov. 6 opener at Cincinnati.

WHAT CAN BROWN(ELL) DO FOR U(IC)

• Redshirt sophomore forward Jaden Brownell has elevated his performance during the past four games, averaging 14.8 points while shooting .588 (20-34) from the field and .667 (14-21) from three-point range.

• Brownell is also averaging 3.0 blocks per game in that span, moving into a tie for fifth in the MVC in that category as of Monday (1.38 bpg.).

• The highlight of Brownell's recent surge came in a Dec. 16 home win over Western Michigan, when the Sandy, Utah, native set or tied career highs in five categories — 22 points, six rebounds, five blocks, four assists and four three-pointers.

KEEPING UP WITH JONES

• Another of UIC's second-year players who has shown remarkable development this season is sophomore guard CJ Jones, who ranks third in the MVC with 5.15 assists per game and ninth in The Valley with a 1.91 assist/turnover ratio.

• Jones has recorded 5+ assists in eight games this season, including five contests in which he registered at least eight assists. Leading the way was his career-high 11-assist day against Western Michigan on Dec. 16.

• Jones has more than doubled his assist average from last year (2.1 apg.) and improved his assist/turnover ratio by over 40 percent from a season ago (1.35). 

• Jones is also averaging 9.3 points per game this season (up 50 percent from last year's 6.2 ppg.) and is logging 3.4 rebounds per game (improving almost 80 percent from last year's 1.9 rpg.).

MAKING THE GRADE

• The UIC men's basketball team posted a program-record 3.18 Fall 2023 GPA, the third time in four semesters the Flames have finished with a record-setting GPA.

• In addition, three Flames players — senior guard Isaiah Rivera, junior forward Filip Skobalj and sophomore guard Drew King — earned a perfect 4.0 GPA during the Fall 2023 semester.

• The men's basketball team's performance was part of a larger success story in the classroom for UIC athletics, as the 300 Flames' student-athletes combined to register a 3.34 department-wide GPA this past semester.

THIS & THAT

• UIC has found quite a bit of success away from home this season. The Flames are a combined 4-3 in road/neutral games, including two wins over Atlantic 10 Conference opponents (Loyola and George Washington), as well as a 30-point victory over Conference USA preseason co-favorite Middle Tennessee.

• The Flames' dual wins over A-10 schools, both away from home (at Loyola on Nov. 14; vs. George Washington in the Bahamas on Nov. 25), marked the first time in program history UIC defeated two A-10 teams in the same season.

• More than half (7) of UIC's 13 games this year have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Four of the seven close games have taken place away from home, with UIC winning three of those four.

LAST TIME OUT: SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

• Senior guard Isaiah Rivera brought UIC within 53-50 heading into the final two minutes to play, but Southern Illinois closed the game on a 9-0 run to pull out a 62-50 Missouri Valley Conference win over the Flames (7-6, 0-2) on Dec. 30 at the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill.

• Rivera finished with a team-high 18 points and five rebounds, while redshirt sophomore forward Jaden Brownell and sophomore guard CJ Jones each scored all nine of their points in the first half.

• Senior guard Toby Okani also reached two personal milestones on Saturday, recording his 500th career rebound and 100th career block. He finished with a game-high four blocks and a career-best four steals, as well as sharing team-high honors with five rebounds.

• UIC came into the contest as the nation's leader in blocked shots and three-point percentage defense and largely built upon those rankings against Southern Illinois, finishing with eight blocks and limiting the Salukis to 6-of-21 (.286) from beyond the arc.

CARLOS HARRIS SIGNS WITH UIC

• On Nov. 9, UIC announced point guard Carlos Harris (6-2, 180) has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Flames beginning in 2024-25.

• One of the top players in the Chicago Public League for Curie Metropolitan High School, Harris averaged 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals per game last season in helping the Condors to a 20-11 record.

• Harris is a three-star athlete who is the No. 35 point guard in the country and the No. 13 player in the state of Illinois in the Class of 2024.

UP NEXT: VALPARAISO

• UIC returns home for three of its next four MVC games, starting Saturday night with a 7 p.m. (CT) matchup against Valparaiso at Credit Union 1 Arena. The game will be televised live on ESPN+, while the free live Flames Network radio feed can be heard at UICFlames.com.

• The Beacons (4-9, 0-2 MVC) get back into Valley action Wednesday when they play host to Bradley before heading to UIC next weekend.

THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN

• Season and single-game tickets, as well as mini-plans and flex ticket plans for all UIC basketball home games may be purchased online through Ticketmaster or UICFlames.com/Tickets, by contacting the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312-413-UIC1; athleticsticketing@uic.edu) or visiting the Credit Union 1 Arena box office on game night.

• Fans can also learn more about the benefits associated with purchasing season or single-game passes for the Courtside Club at Credit Union 1 Arena through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office or the arena box office.