SCOUTING JAMES MADISON

• UIC will be facing James Madison for the first time on Thursday morning.

• The Dukes are the first of potentially four new opponents on the Flames' schedule this year, including three in as many days at the Boardwalk Battle. UIC has also never met tournament participants UC San Diego, East Carolina and Stetson, and will play Seattle for the first time on Dec. 20.

• James Madison posted a 32-4 record last season and finished second in the Sun Belt Conference regular season race before winning the SBC Tournament title. The Dukes then defeated Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to advance for the first time since 1983.

• Like UIC, James Madison has seen a great deal of turnover on its roster during the offseason, with 12 newcomers joining the Dukes this year.

• James Madison is off to a 2-2 start this season, picking up home wins over Ohio (88-78) and Mary Baldwin (100-52), while falling on the road at Norfolk State (83-69) and Towson (67-63).

• Junior guard Xavier Brown (one of two returnees from last year's JMU squad) leads James Madison in scoring (17.3 ppg.) and three-point percentage (.448), pacing four Dukes in double figures. Senior center (and Seton Hall transfer) Elijah Hutchins-Everett is among that group with 11.8 ppg. and a team-high 7.5 rpg.

• Head coach Preston Spradlin is in his first season at James Madison, following an eight-year run at Morehead State that included two NCAA Tournament appearances (2021, 2024). He has a 142-111 (.561) career coaching record.

TOURNAMENT NOTES

• UIC is playing in a multi-team event (MTE) for the eighth time in the past nine seasons (all but the 2020-21 season that was truncated due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

• The Flames have finished second at their MTE the past two seasons. In 2022, UIC went to Bronx, N.Y., and won two of three games to place second at Fordham's Tom Konchalski Classic. Last year, the Flames competed at the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, reaching the championship game before falling to UNCG on two last-second foul shots, 58-57.

• UIC last played in an MTE in the state of Florida in 2019-20 in the Boca Raton Beach Classic, which was a split tournament with the first two rounds played at campus sites before relocating to the FAU campus in Boca Raton. The Flames went a combined 1-3 in that tournament, picking up an 89-83 win over San Diego in the finale in Boca Raton.

GAME #4 RECAP - SAINT MARY'S (MINN.)

• Graduate student guard Joshua Reaves scored a game-high 21 points to lead four UIC players in double figures (and nine with at least eight points) as the Flames emphatically returned to their winning ways last Saturday afternoon with a 117-59 victory over Saint Mary's (Minn.) at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• Senior guard Ethan Pickett delivered his best scoring day in a Flames' uniform with 17 points, while graduate student guard Tyem Freeman added 16 points and senior forward Filip Škobalj made the most of his 12 minutes, scoring 14 points and connecting on 4-of-6 three-pointers.

• Junior guard Javon Jackson, who came into the game as UIC's leading scorer, turned facilitator, dishing out a career-high 10 assists without a turnover in less than 20 minutes of court time.

NOTING THE SAINT MARY'S GAME

• UIC's 117 points were third-most in school history and most since Nov. 29, 1983, when the Flames posted a record-setting 120-76 home win over Chadron State. The only other higher-scoring game than today was a 119-58 victory over Niles to open the 1977-78 season (before UIC moved up to the NCAA Division I level).

• UIC posted its first 100-point game in regulation since Feb. 8, 2018 (100-75 at home over Youngstown State).

• The 58-point margin of victory was the Flames' second-largest of their Division I era and largest since Dec. 2, 1986, when they downed visiting Lake Forest, 115-53.

• UIC scored 58 points in the first half and 59 points in the second half, its highest-scoring halves since Jan. 9, 2003, when the Flames tallied 61 points in the second half of a 102-92 win over Milwaukee at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• UIC's 31 assists were the most for the Flames in a game since Dec. 9, 1987, when they also had 31 dimes in a 108-86 win at home over Northeastern Illinois. 

• The Flames posted their fourth consecutive game with 10+ three-pointers, the first time that's happened since Jan. 4-19, 2019, when they reeled off five in a row with double-digit treys.

• UIC shot 60 percent from the field for the first time since March 3, 2020, when it reached the mark (.600; 39-65) in a 93-59 Horizon League Tournament opening-round win over IUPUI (now IU Indianapolis).

• UIC (.600 FG%, .448 3FG%, .875 FT%) was one missed free throw shy of posting its first 50-40-90 team shooting game since Feb. 28, 2006 vs. Wright State (.500 FG%, .438 3FG%, .966 FT%).

• UIC's 45 made field goals are the most for the Flames in a game since at least the 2000-01 season.

THE (OFFENSIVE) EFFICIENCY EXPERTS

• UIC is averaging 93.3 points per game this season, its highest scoring average through the first four games of a season in the program's 78-year history.

• For the first time ever, UIC has opened with three 90-point performances in its first four outings.

• UIC is sharing the basketball like no other team in the country, ranking No. 1 in the nation in assists (22.8 apg.), including 31 dimes in last Saturday's win over Saint Mary's (Minn.), the program's highest single-game assist total since Dec. 1987.

• UIC ranks among the top 25 in the nation in 10 statistical categories: assists (1st - 22.8 apg.), effective field goal percentage (11th - .616), bench points per game (14th - 40.75), scoring offense (15th - 93.3 ppg.), three-point percentage (15th - .430), three-pointers per game (17th - 11.5), field-goal percentage (18th - .529), assist/turnover ratio (19th - 1.86), scoring margin (20th - +27.3 ppg.) and rebound margin (22nd - +12.3 rpg.).

• UIC leads the Missouri Valley Conference in six of those categories (assists, bench points, scoring offense, three-pointers per game, assist/turnover ratio and rebound margin), as well as fastbreak points (18.75 per game/31st in nation).

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.

UP NEXT: BOARDWALK BATTLE

• 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) of the Boardwalk Battle.

• The other four schools in the field (whom 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.

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.