SCOUTING SAINT MARY'S (MINN.)

• Based in Winona, Minn., Saint Mary's University is a member of the NCAA Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC).

• UIC will be facing Saint Mary's for the third time in program history and first in nearly 45 years. The Flames won both prior matchups with the Cardinals, including their most recent encounter on Jan. 5, 1980 (88-69 in Chicago), two seasons before UIC moved up to the NCAA Division I level.

• Saturday will mark the first time in the history of the Saint Mary's men's basketball program that the Cardinals will play an NCAA Division I opponent.

• Saint Mary's posted an 8-17 record last year, including a 7-13 mark in MIAC play. The Cardinals have seven returnees and eight newcomers on their roster this year.

• Saint Mary's has opened this season with a 2-1 record, with all three proving to be high-scoring affairs and the last two going to overtime at home (Tuesday - 92-83 win over Martin Luther College; Thursday - 95-94 loss to Bethany Lutheran College).

• Senior guard Breyton Buysman earned the first MIAC Offensive Player of the Week nod on Monday after scoring 27 points in a season-opening win over Crown College. Buysman leads the Cardinals in scoring (22.5 ppg.) and rebounding (9.0 rpg.), despite missing Tuesday's win over Martin Luther College with an ankle injury. 

• Joe Fano is in his seventh season at Saint Mary's with a 62-76 (.449) career record.

OTHER TIDBITS ON SAINT MARY'S

• UIC director of basketball operations Joey White is a 2023 graduate of Saint Mary's, earning his bachelor's degree in business intelligence and data analytics. While there, White was a four-year contributor (2019-23) on the basketball team, garnering academic all-conference honors each year he was eligible and helping the Cardinals to their best season in a half-century (16-10 in 2022-23) before being named to the NABC Honors Court. As a senior, he also assisted the Saint Mary's staff with analytical reports and models.

• Saint Mary's head coach Joe Fano is no stranger to the Windy City, having previously served as an associate head coach at North Park University (2016-18) and assistant coach at Benedictine University (2014-16), helping the '15-16 Benedictine squad to its first NCAA Division III Final Four berth. He also spent 12 years as a high school assistant coach, beginning with his tenure at Gordon Tech (now DePaul College Prep) in 1996.

• Six members of the Saint Mary's roster are from the Chicagoland area — senior guards Jemari Moore (Broadview/Montini Catholic), Jabari Sawyer (Chicago/DePaul College Prep), Dane Brazil (Chicago/Fenwick) and Milan Adamovic (Chicago/Maine South), junior guard Jonah Ogunsanya (Mount Prospect/Rolling Meadows) and freshman guard TJ Gorman (Libertyville/Northridge Prep).

GAME #3 RECAP - NORTHWESTERN

• Junior guard and reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week Javon Jackson scored 17 points to pace four UIC players in double figures, but Big Ten Conference foe Northwestern did just enough down the stretch to hold off a determined Flames' squad, 83-74 on Tuesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.

• UIC (2-1) led by as many as six points in the first half, tied the score at 31-31 on the opening possession of the second half and then battled back within 74-70 on a three-point play by sophomore forward Saša Ciani with 1:35 to play before NU (2-1) made 7-of-9 foul shots in the closing 73 seconds to earn the win.

• Ciani finished with a career-high 15 points and eight rebounds, senior forward Filip Skobalj added a season-high 13 points and sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II chipped in 12 points for UIC. 

NOTING THE NORTHWESTERN GAME

• UIC had yet another balanced scoring night with four players in double figures for the third time in as many games to open the season. Skobalj has already become the seventh different Flames' player to score in double digits in a game this year.

• UIC also made at least 10 three-pointers for the third game in a row. The Flames had two such stretches last year (Nov. 10-19, 2023, and Jan. 20-27, 2024).

• The Flames won the battle on the boards for the third consecutive game, 36-31 over their Big Ten opponent.

• For the third game in a row, Ciani scored a career high, and he has also grabbed at least seven rebounds in all three games this year.

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 on Nov. 8 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.

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: JAMES MADISON (BOARDWALK BATTLE)

• UIC heads to Daytona Beach, Fla., to participate in the inaugural Boardwalk Battle Nov. 21-23 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.

• The Flames will open the eight-team, bracket-style tournament at 10 a.m. (CT) Thursday against defending Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion and NCAA Tournament second-round participant James Madison.

• Depending on Thursday's results, UIC will face either La Salle or UC San Diego on Friday in either the championship semifinal (2:30 p.m. CT) or the consolation semifinal (10 a.m. CT).

• The other four schools in the field (which UIC could not face prior to Saturday) are East Carolina, Jacksonville State, Stetson and Toledo.

• All Boardwalk Battle games will be broadcast live on the subscription-based BallerTV (ballertv.com) and free of charge on the Flames Radio Network via UICFlames.com.