SCOUTING AURORA

• Located approximately one hour west of the UIC campus in Aurora, Ill.,  Aurora University competes at the NCAA Division III level and is a member of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

• During regular-season matchups (the majority of which were played before UIC moved to the NCAA Division I level in 1981-82), the Flames are 15-6 all-time against Aurora and have won 13 of their last 16 games against the Spartans.

• The two schools met in a regular-season game just last season, with UIC posting a 99-48 victory over Aurora on Nov. 19, 2023, at Credit Union 1 Arena. Among current Flames, senior forward Filip Škobalj scored 11 points, senior guard Ethan Pickett added nine points and sophomore guard Grant Welch notched his first career points with a late three-pointer.

• Aurora is 1-4 this season, with a 1-0 record in NACC play. All five of the Spartans' games this year have been decided by 12 points or fewer, with the last four by single digits, inclukding an 86-82 overtime road win at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) on Nov. 16.

• Aurora last took the floor on Tuesday, dropping a 49-45 decision at Millikin. Junior guard Joevonn McCottry scored a team-high 11 points for the Spartans, who led by as many as 12 points in the first half and by nine at the break before Millikin rallied for the victory.

• McCottry leads five Aurora players scoring in double figures this season, averaging 13.6 points per game. He also ranks second on the team in assists (2.2 apg.) and is tied for third in rebounding (4.4 rpg.). Sophomore guard Isaiah Davis is second on the team in scoring (12.2 ppg.), rebounding (5.4 rpg.) and three-point percentage (.438) while making a team-high 14 three-pointers this year. Graduate student forward Dwayne Jervier Jr. adds a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game and .541 field-goal percentage to his 10.4 points per night.

• Steve Christiansen is in his third season as head coach at Aurora, having previously spent time as an assistant at Northern Illinois and had a successful 17-year stay as head coach at Triton College in River Grove, Ill. (less than 15 miles west of the UIC campus). Christiansen is 24-31 (.436) during his three-year tenure at Aurora, and has a career record of 493-149 (.768), highlighted by guiding Triton to the 2018 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II national championship — he was named the 2018 NJCAA National Coach of the Year.

EXHIBITION SUCCESS

• UIC has won its last 14 exhibition games, a streak that began with the 2010-11 season.

• The Flames prevailed in their only exhibition contest last year, earning a 71-47 victory over Clayton State on Oct. 31, 2023, at Credit Union 1 Arena.

GAME #7 RECAP - EAST CAROLINA

• Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II and sophomore forward Saša Ciani each scored a team-high 10 points, with Ciani adding eight rebounds, but East Carolina pulled away in the final nine minutes to defeat UIC, 72-55, on Nov. 23 at the Boardwalk Battle inside the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.

• The Flames led for a large portion of the first half by as many as nine points, then retook the lead at 32-30 on Henderson's three-pointer 71 seconds into the second half. The Pirates went back in front, but UIC got within 52-46 with 9:05 left before ECU made its game-turning run.

NOTING THE EAST CAROLINA GAME

• Henderson and Ciani both posted their team-leading sixth double-digit scoring games this season.

• Redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris tied his career high with four blocked shots, matching his previous best that he set on Nov. 22, 2022, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

• Junior guard Javon Jackson dished out a game-high six assists, his second-highest total this season (he had 10 on Nov. 16 against Saint Mary's-Minn.).

• Senior forward Filip Škobalj played in his 99th career game (77th start).

POTENT NOTABLES

• With its Nov. 22 win over La Salle at the Boardwalk Battle, UIC collected its third victory 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 seven games this season. The Flames had a season-high five in their wins over Yale and La Salle (both of which are in the top 140 of the KenPom ratings as of Friday).

• UIC knocked down at least 10 three-pointers in five games this year.

• The Flames have scored at least 80 points five times this season and topped the 90-point mark on four occasions.

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

• The Flames lead the Missouri Valley Conference and rank 29th in the nation in scoring offense (86.4 ppg.). UIC is posting its highest scoring average through seven games since the 1983-84 season (88.4 ppg.).

• UIC has shot 45 percent or better in six games this year, including 50 percent in four of those contests (season-high 60.0 percent on Nov. 16 against Saint Mary's-Minn.).

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

CHART TOPPERS

• UIC leads the Missouri Valley Conference in three categories — scoring offense (86.4 ppg.; 29th in NCAA), assists (19.4 apg.; 14th in NCAA) and bench points (36.43 per game; 16th in NCAA).

• The Flames also rank 17th in the country (third in the MVC) in field-goal percentage (.508) and 22nd in the nation (fourth in the MVC) in effective field-goal percentage (.582).

• Individually, sophomore forward Saša Ciani leads the MVC in rebounding (9.0 rpg.) and is tied for top honors with two double-doubles.

• Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II is 13th in the nation (second in the MVC) with a .960 free-throw percentage.

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: NORTHERN IOWA

• UIC will turn its attention to Missouri Valley Conference play next week, opening its league schedule at home on Wednesday night against Northern Iowa. 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.

• UNI is 3-3 this season and was slated to face St. Bonaventure on Friday night to close out the NIT Season Tip-Off in Kissimmee, Fla.

• Last year, UIC and UNI split their two regular-season meetings, each successfully defending its home court in a pair of close contests (UNI 67-59 on Jan. 10, 2024, in Cedar Falls; UIC 71-65 on Feb. 11, 2024, in Chicago).

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.