SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA

• For the second time in three days, UIC will face a new opponent as the Flames meet East Carolina on the hardwood for the first time.

• The Pirates are the second of three first-time opponents on this year's UIC schedule, along with Thursday's opponent, James Madison, and the Flames' Dec. 20 foe, Seattle.

• East Carolina will be the first current member of the American Athletic Conference UIC has played since Dec. 1, 2019, when the Flames dropped a 71-70 decision at FAU in the Boca Raton Beach Classic (the Owls were playing in Conference USA at the time). The last UIC opponent actually in the AAC at the time of the game was No. 14/15 Memphis, which defeated the Flames, 92-46 on Nov. 8, 2019, in Memphis.

• East Carolina is out to a 5-1 start this season, the lone blemish an 86-78 loss to Jacksonville State in the Pirates' Boardwalk Battle opener on Thursday. Along with Friday's tournament win over Steton, ECU has four home wins on its resume, highlighted by a 78-77 double-overtime win over George Mason.

• Senior guard RJ Felton is East Carolina's leader in several categories, including scoring (22.3 ppg.), rebounding (8.3 rpg.), steals (1.5 spg.), blocks (1.2 bpg.) and three-pointers made (14). Graduate student forward C.J. Walker (a UCF transfer who also previously played at Oregon) is second in both scoring (16.0 ppg.) and rebounding (8.2 rpg.), while senior guard Jordan Riley (a Temple transfer with prior experience at Georgetown) is third in those departments (13.5 ppg., 6.3 rpg.).

• Walker and UIC graduate student guard Tyem Freeman were teammates at UCF during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before Freeman transferred to Kent State for the 2023-24 campaign and subsequently to UIC this past summer. During their two seasons at UCF, the Knights won 37 games and reached the second round of the 2023 NIT.

• Michael Schwartz is in his third season as head coach at East Carolina after spending the prior seven years at Tennessee as the top assistant under noted head coach Rick Barnes. Schwartz has a 36-36 record in his tenure at ECU.

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, winning twice to reach the title 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 #6 RECAP - LA SALLE

• Senior forward Filip Škobalj rang up a season-high 19 points, including 4-of-6 three-pointers, to pace five UIC players in double figures and sophomore forward Saša Ciani added his second career double-double with 10 points and a career high-tying 11 rebounds as the Flames (4-2) raced past La Salle, 96-83 on Friday in the Boardwalk Battle consolation semifinals at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.

• Junior guard Jordan Mason and graduate student guard Tyem Freeman came off the bench to score 18 and 13 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II rounded out UIC's double-figure quintet with 12 points, including 8-of-8 free throws. 

NOTING THE LA SALLE GAME

• This was UIC's third win over an Atlantic 10 Conference opponent in the past two seasons, following up last year's victories over Loyola and George Washington.

• UIC has had at least four double-digit scorers in five of its six games this season. The five in Friday's game tied for a Flames season high, first set in the Nov. 8 home win over Yale.

• Also for the fifth time this year, UIC knocked down at least 10 three-pointers.

• The Flames scored at least 80 points for the fifth time this season and topped the 90-point mark for the fourth time.

• This is the first time in the 78-year history of the UIC men's basketball program that it has had four 90-point outings in its opening six games.

• The Flames are at their highest scoring pace through their first six games (91.7 ppg.) in program history, supplanting the 1983-84 squad that averaged 91.2 ppg. through its first six contests.

• UIC has shot 45 percent or better in all six games this year, including 50 percent in four of those contests (52.8 percent on Friday).

• The Flames went 30-of-34 (.882) at the free throw line, their most made foul shots in a game since Nov. 16, 2016, when they went 34-of-47 at the stripe in a home win over UTSA.

• Škobalj's 19 points were two off his career high of 21, set on Feb. 11, 2024, in a home win over UNI.

• Ciani's 11 rebounds matched his career high from the Nov. 8 home win over Yale, which also resulted in his first career double-double (13 points/11 rebounds). Ciani was also a career-best 6-of-7 at the free throw line and wound up scoring in double figures for the fifth time in as many appearances this season. 

• Henderson's 8-for-8 showing at the charity stripe tied his career high from the Nov. 8 Yale win. He finished in double figures for the fifth time this year.

• Mason posted the best scoring day of his brief UIC career with 18 points, topping his 16-point effort against Yale.

• Mason and Freeman both registered their third double-figure scoring games this season.

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: AURORA (exhibition)

• Following the Thanksgiving holiday, UIC returns home for a rare in-season exhibition game at 4 p.m. (CT) Nov. 30 against Aurora at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• As has been the case with prior men's and women's basketball exhibition games at UIC, this game against Aurora will not be broadcast, either on television on ESPN+ or through the Flames Radio Network.

• After the Nov. 30 exhibition against Aurora, UIC will turn its attention to Missouri Valley Conference play, opening its league schedule at home on Dec. 4 against UNI. Tipoff time from Credit Union 1 Arena is set for 7 p.m. (CT), with the game televised on ESPN+ and broadcast live on the Flames Radio Network.

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.