THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• UIC and Little Rock will tangle for the second time ever, as Sunday's game completes a home-and-home series between the schools that began last season.

• The Flames won the inaugural meeting on Nov. 10, 2023, leading almost wire-to-wire in an 86-71 victory at Credit Union 1 Arena. Among current UIC players, senior guard Ethan Pickett scored 13 points and senior forward Filip Škobalj grabbed six rebounds to help support the Flames' effort.

• When UIC and Little Rock met last season, it was UIC's first-ever matchup against a team from the state of Arkansas. Subsequently, Sunday's game will be the Flames' first visit to the Natural State, the first of back-to-back new stops for the UIC program, which will make its initial trip to Seattle next Friday.

• This will be UIC's 100th all-time game against the current Ohio Valley Conference alignment. The Flames are 47-52 against present OVC schools, having faced nine of that league's 11 members (all but Lindenwood and Tennessee Tech). The majority of those matchups have come against three other Illinois schools — Eastern Illinois (17-17), SIUE (3-13) and Western Illinois (20-17) — along with meetings against Little Rock (1-0), Morehead State (0-1), SEMO (2-0), Southern Indiana (2-2), Tennessee State (2-1) and UT Martin (0-1).

MORE ON LITTLE ROCK

• After playing six in a row away from home during the opening month of the season (including visits to power conference foes Arkansas and Illinois), Little Rock is getting a chance to flip that script with six consecutive home games — the UIC contest is the fourth in that stretch.

• The reigning OVC regular-season champion, Little Rock carries a three-game winning streak into Sunday's contest, most recently downing NCAA Division II member Ouachita Baptist, 80-57 on Tuesday night at the Jack Stephens Center.

• Graduate student guard and LSU transfer Mwani Wilkinson, who scored a game-high 25 points in the win over Ouachita Baptist, leads Little Rock in scoring (16.2 ppg.) and rebounding (6.6 rpg.). Redshirt junior guard Jonathan Lawson (who previously played at Memphis and Creighton) is second in both categories (14.7 ppg., 5.5 rpg.) along with a team-high 4.0 assists per game. He also leads the Trojans with a .443 three-point percentage and 27 made three-pointers this year.

• Head coach Darrell Walker is in his seventh season at Little Rock and ninth on the collegiate sidelines, following two years at Clark Atlanta University. He has a 88-103 (.461) record at Little Rock and a 134-121 (.525) overall mark in the college ranks, along with prior head coach stops in the NBA (Toronto from 1996-98; Washington in 2000), CBA (Rockford from 1999-2000) and WNBA (Washington in 2000). A native of Chicago and graduate of Corliss High School on the South Side, Walker also earned an NBA title in his final playing season with the Chicago Bulls (1993) and was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Hall of Fame in 2014.

GAME #9 RECAP - DARTMOUTH

• UIC's junior guard duo of Javon Jackson and Jordan Mason each scored a game-high 17 points and the Flames came up with seven consecutive defensive stops in overtime to defeat Dartmouth, 69-68 on Dec. 8 at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• Jackson added four assists and four steals, while Mason had three assists and three steals for UIC, which earned its first regular-season overtime win since the 2021-22 season, and first OT victory at home in five seasons.

• Redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris tied his career high with 13 rebounds and blocked three shots, while sophomore forward Saša Ciani grabbed 12 rebounds.

NOTING THE DARTMOUTH GAME

• UIC earned its first regular-season overtime win since Feb. 19, 2022, when it posted a 96-88 victory at Robert Morris. The Flames registered their first home OT win since Jan. 16, 2021, a 66-62 triumph, also over Robert Morris.

• UIC set a Credit Union 1 Arena record with 59 rebounds, surpassing the prior mark of 58 boards against Loyola on Jan. 7, 1995 (UIC won 87-69).

• Kancleris tied his career high with 13 rebounds, matching his total from Jan. 20, 2024, against Cal Poly when he was playing for Cal State Bakersfield.

• Ciani averaged 14.5 rebounds in two games last week, adding to the career-high 17 caroms he had on Dec. 4 vs. UNI.

• Mason's 17 points were one shy of his season high set on Nov. 22 in the Flames' win over La Salle in Daytona Beach, Fla.

• The Flames improve to 7-3 all-time against Ivy League schools, including a 2-0 mark this season following their Nov. 8 win over Yale. UIC is also 2-0 all-time vs. Dartmouth.

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 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 150 of the NCAA NET ratings as of Saturday).

• UIC has knocked down at least 10 three-pointers in six 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 season marked the first time in the 78-year history of the UIC men's basketball program that it had four 90-point outings in its first six games.

• 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.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS

• UIC sophomore forward Saša Ciani leads the MVC in rebounding (10.4 rpg.; 11th in NCAA), offensive rebounding (4.13 orpg.; 7th in NCAA), defensive rebounding (6.25 drpg.; 41st in NCAA) and double-doubles (3; 48th in NCAA).

• As a team, UIC is tops in the Valley in rebounding (40.67 rpg.; 43rd in NCAA) and offensive rebounds (13.11 orpg), as well as second in the MVC in rebound margin (+8.7 rpg.; 26th in NCAA).

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: SEATTLE

• For the first time in program history, UIC will travel to the city of Seattle, as the Flames prepare to take on Seattle U. on at 4 p.m. CT (2 p.m. PT) Friday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ from the Redhawk Center in the Emerald City, although there will not be a live Flames Network broadcast for this game.

• Seattle is the defending College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament champion, winning last year's title on the same Ocean Center court in Daytona Beach, Fla., where UIC played in the Boardwalk Battle last month.

• This season, the Redhawks are 3-6, but one of those wins is against UC San Diego, which won last month's Boardwalk Battle crown. Like UIC, Seattle is returning from its exam break this weekend and will play host to Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday night. The Redhawks then travel east to play at Western Kentucky on Tuesday before returning home for Friday's matchup with the Flames.

• This will be the first-ever meeting between UIC and Seattle. The Redhawks are the last of three first-time opponents on the Flames' schedule, following inaugural encounters against James Madison (Nov. 21) and East Carolina (Nov. 23) at the Boardwalk Battle.

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.