• UIC and Northwestern will square off for the 11th time in their series history, with the Wildcats maintaining a 6-4 edge over the Flames (4-3 at Welsh-Ryan Arena). NU has also won the past three matchups between the schools, most recently prevailing on Dec. 20, 2022 (92-54, also in Evanston).

• The Wildcats posted a 22-12 record last season, including a 12-8 mark  (and a third-place tie) in Big Ten Conference play, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, falling to eventual national champion UConn in round two.

• Northwestern is 1-1 this season, opening with a Nov. 4 victory at home over Lehigh (90-46) before falling at Dayton last Saturday night (71-66).

• Junior guard Nick Martinelli was tabbed the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 29.0 points and 12.0 rebounds in the Wildcats' opening week of action.

• NU head coach Chris Collins is in his 12th season in Evanston with a 178-175 (.504) career record.


POWER PLAY

• UIC is aiming for its first win over a power-conference opponent since Dec. 1, 2012, when the Flames defeated Northwestern, 50-44 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston.

• If one rightly includes the BIG EAST as a power conference in basketball circles, the last Flames' win over that group came on Dec. 14, 2016, when UIC toppled another crosstown rival, DePaul, 80-75, at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Lincoln Park.

• UIC most recently faced a power-conference opponent in last year's season opener (Nov. 6, 2023), dropping a 69-58 decision at Cincinnati.


GAME #2 RECAP - YALE

• Graduate student guard Tyem Freeman came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points, pacing five UIC players in double figures as the Flames outscored Yale, 22-5 to start the second half and never looked back en route to a 91-79 victory over the Bulldogs before a raucous Homecoming crowd of 3,102 fans last Friday night at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• UIC (2-0) scored 57 second-half points to defeat a Yale squad that came into the contest ranked No. 13 in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Poll and was the reigning Ivy League Tournament champion, as well as a participant in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

• Freeman and junior guard Jordan Mason proved a strong 1-2 punch off the bench, with Mason adding 16 points (12 in the second half). Sophomore forward Sasa Ciani posted his first career double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while junior guard Javon Jackson dodged foul trouble all night long to score 13 points in 12 minutes, with 10 of those coming in a white-hot opening five minutes of the second half. Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II capped the double-digit group with 11 points and a career-high seven assists.


NOTING THE YALE WIN

• UIC is 2-0 to start a non-COVID season for the first time since 2007-08 (the Flames won three in a row to start the truncated 2020-21 season).

• UIC scored 90+ points for the second consecutive game, the first time in more than quarter century that the Flames have turned in back-to-back 90-point games — dating back to Feb. 14-19, 1998 (head coach Jimmy Collins' second season at UIC), when the Flames defeated Milwaukee at home (92-68) and won at Cleveland State (96-72).

• UIC's 57 points in the second half were the most it has scored in a single half since Dec. 22, 2007, when the Flames scored 57 points in the first half of a 97-58 win over Howard at Credit Union 1 Arena.  

• Days after posting career highs in scoring and rebounding, Ciani re-established those marks with his first career double-double, winding up with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

• With Freeman and Mason scoring in double figures on Friday, six different UIC players have reached double digits in one or both games this season.

• Through their first two games, the Flames' reserves have outscored their opponent's bench, 79-43.

• Last Friday's crowd of 3,102 was the Flames' largest home attendance since Feb. 3, 2024, when 4,056 fans watched UIC take on Southern Illinois at Credit Union 1 Arena.


JACKSON NAMED MVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Junior guard Javon Jackson has been selected as the first Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week for the 2024-25 season, the conference announced Monday.

• In his first week in a UIC uniform, Jackson played a pivotal role in two Flames' victories, including one over No. 13 (Mid-Major) Yale last Friday night at Credit Union 1 Arena. Jackson averaged 17.0 points and 3.5 steals per game last week with a .684 field-goal percentage and .667 three-point percentage.

• Jackson scored a game-high 21 points and swiped a career-high five steals in a Nov. 4 season-opening win over St. Francis, also at Credit Union 1 Arena before dodging foul trouble to score 13 points in 12 minutes against Yale — a performance that included an incredible stretch to open the second half in which Jackson scored 10 straight points in a 103-second span (FG, 3-pt play, FG, 3FG) during UIC's decisive 22-5 run that flipped the game in the Flames' favor.


FILLING IT UP

• UIC has two starters returning this season, one of which is senior forward Filip Škobalj, who started 29 of the 31 games he played in and posted career-high averages across the board, including scoring (8.2 ppg.), rebounding (3.6 rpg.) and three-point percentage (.418).

• It was that last category where Škobalj was most effective. In fact, he ranked second in the MVC last year in three-point percentage, both overall and during conference play (.467).

• Škobalj is equally proficient in the classroom, maintaining a 4.0 cumulative GPA as a business management major. He is also a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team selection and a recipient of the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award.

• Thus, it was no surprise Škobalj was voted a 2024-25 preseason third-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection by the conference coaches, SIDs and media.


NEW FACES, NEW PLACES

• There are a lot of new faces in Sparky's camp this season, as UIC welcomes 11 newcomers to its roster, including eight transfers (all from Division I programs).

• Three of those arrivals bring with them playing experience in the NCAA Tournament from their prior stops — Javon Jackson (Utah State), Modestas Kancleris (Creighton) and Joshua Reaves (Mount St. Mary's).

• Among the new arrivals to Chicago's College Team are junior guard Jordan Mason (9.4 ppg. in two years at Texas State), graduate guard Joshua Reaves (7.5 ppg. and a .368 3FG% in four years at Mount St. Mary's), junior guard Javon Jackson (10.5 ppg. in two years at Southern Nazarene and Utah State) and sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II (11.2 ppg. in one year at Niagara).


INTERNATIONAL HOUSE

• UIC's roster has a distinct international flair this season with four student-athletes hailing from abroad (all from Europe).

• Senior forward Filip Škobalj is a native of Belgrade, Serbia, while redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris is originally from Kaunas, Lithuania.

• Sophomore forward Saša Ciani is from Nova Gorica, Slovenia, while UIC's youngest player, freshman Iker Garmendia, is a product of Barcelona, Spain.

• The last time UIC had four international players on its roster was the 2020-21 season — Škobalj (Serbia), graduate student guard Jamie Ahale (Australia), junior forward Marcus Larsson (Norway) and graduate student guard Jalen Warren (Canada).


MAKING THE GRADE

• The UIC men's basketball team posted a 3.12 GPA during the 2023-24 academic year, spotlighting a trend that has seen the Flames post a record-setting GPA in three of the past five semesters.

• The men's basketball team's performance was part of a larger academic success story for UIC athletics last year, as the 300 Flames' student-athletes combined for a 3.35 department-wide GPA.


THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN

• Tickets 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 purchase passes for the US Solar Courtside Club at Credit Union 1 Arena through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office or the arena box office.


UP NEXT: SAINT MARY'S (MINN.)

• UIC returns home to Credit Union 1 Arena on Saturday for a noon (CT) matinee against Saint Mary's (Minn.). The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and free of charge on the Flames Radio Network via UICFlames.com.

• A member of the NCAA Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), Saint Mary's opened its season last Friday with an 87-80 road win at Crown College. The Cardinals have a pair of home games on tap this week (Tuesday vs. Martin Luther College; Thursday vs. Bethany Lutheran College) before heading to the Windy City to face the Flames in their first-ever matchup against a Division I opponent.

• Saturday's game is the first of two UIC athletics contests at Credit Union 1 Arena that day, with the Flames' volleyball program playing host to Indiana State at 6 p.m. (CT) for its Senior Night match.