THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• UIC and Seattle U. will meet for the first time ever when they step onto the hardwood Friday afternoon.

• The Redhawks are the third first-time opponent on the Flames' schedule this season, following inaugural encounters with James Madison (Nov. 21) and East Carolina (Nov. 23), both of which occurred at the Boardwalk Battle in Daytona Beach, Fla.

• UIC is visiting the state of Washington for the first time in program history. The only prior time the Flames visited the Pacific Northwest was Dec. 12, 2000, when they dropped a 110-87 decision at Oregon.

• UIC has played only one Washington school in program history. On Dec. 6, 2003, the Flames posted a 67-52 win over Eastern Washington at the Hawkeye Gazette Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa.

• Seattle U. is in its final season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) before joining the West Coast Conference next summer. UIC is 1-2 all-time against current WAC programs (1-0 vs. Southern Utah, 0-2 vs. Grand Canyon).

MORE ON SEATTLE U.

• Seattle U. is the defending College Basketball Invitational (CBI) champion and has faced a challenging non-conference schedule this year, including a matchup with Top 25 foe Duke and a pending encounter next Monday at city rival and new Big Ten member Washington.

• The Redhawks, who have split their last four games, also have a marquee win on their resume this year, handing UC San Diego one of its two losses in 12 outings to date, 84-71 on Nov. 16 in La Jolla, Calif.

• Graduate student forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe, who transferred in from Georgia during the offseason, leads Seattle U. in both scoring (13.9 ppg.) and rebounding (10.3 rpg.) with a .571 field-goal percentage. Senior guard Paris Dawson is second in scoring (12.2 ppg.) while junior guard Maleek Arington adds 9.8 points and a team-high 5.1 assists per game.

• Head coach Chris Victor is in his fourth season leading the Redhawks after four others as associate head coach. He is 70-42 (.625) at Seattle U., including a share of the 2022 WAC regular-season title, and owns a nine-year career record of 173-81 (.681) when adding his five seasons at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif.

GAME #10 RECAP - LITTLE ROCK

• Trailing by 10 points with 2:48 left and seven points with 30 seconds remaining, UIC dug deep for one of the more remarkable rallies in program history, forcing overtime on three free throws by junior guard Javon Jackson with :00.2 left in regulation before storming past Little Rock in the extra session for a 77-69 victory last Sunday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark. It was the Flames' second consecutive overtime win, the first time UIC has pulled off that feat in nearly two decades.

• Jackson played a massive role in the comeback, scoring seven of his 13 points in the final 30 seconds of regulation to propel his squad into bonus basketball. Sophomore forward Saša Ciani posted his MVC-leading fourth double-double of the season with a team-best (and career high-tying) 15 points and 10 rebounds, while senior forward Filip Škobalj also poured in 15 points on a season-high 5-of-11 three-pointers, including a clutch triple to beat the shot clock buzzer with 2:45 to go in OT that put UIC ahead for good. Redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris was a force on the glass for the second consecutive game, tying his career high with a game-best 13 rebounds.

NOTING THE LITTLE ROCK GAME

• UIC posted back-to-back overtime wins for the first time since Feb. 22-25, 2006, when the Flames won in OT at Cleveland State, 72-67, followed by a 69-66 home OT win over Wright State.

• This marked the first time UIC played consecutive overtime games since Nov. 12-15, 2018, when the Flames lost at Duquesne, 89-88, then defeat William & Mary at home, 100-95. Both games were contested as part of the Gotham Classic.

• Ciani registered double-digit rebounds for the third consecutive game and fourth time in his last five outings, while also notching his fourth double-double of the year (the first of his career). In addition, Ciani set career highs for field goals made and attempted (7-of-12) and tied his career high for points (also 15, twice before this season at Northwestern on Nov. 12 and vs. James Madison in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Nov. 21) and blocks (also two vs. Saint Mary's (Calif.) on Nov. 19, 2023, when he was at Xavier).  

• Skobalj tied his career high with 11 three-point attempts, while finishing one off his career high for three-pointers made (six in a triple-OT loss to Drake on Feb. 28, 2024, at Credit Union 1 Arena).

• Jackson made a career-high seven free throws and tied his career high for the fourth time with eight free throw attempts.

• Kancleris tallied a career-high 13 rebounds for the second game in a row and third time in his career (also vs. Cal Poly on Jan. 20, 2024, when he was playing for Cal State Bakersfield).

• Junior guard Jordan Mason grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.

• The Flames are 2-0 all-time against Little Rock (Sunday was UIC's first-ever visit to the state of Arkansas) and are 48-52 all-time against the current Ohio Valley Conference alignment.

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 160 of the NCAA NET ratings as of Thursday).

• 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.

• UIC grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in the Dec. 15 win at Little Rock, its highest total on the offensive glass since Jan. 8, 2017, when the Flames had 24 offensive boards in a 58-57 home loss to Oakland.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS

• UIC sophomore forward Saša Ciani leads the MVC in rebounding (10.3 rpg.; 11th in NCAA), as well as offensive rebounding (4.11 orpg.; 2nd in NCAA), defensive rebounding (6.22 drpg.; 43rd in NCAA) and double-doubles (4; 31st in NCAA).

• As a team, UIC is tops in the Valley in rebounding (41.4 rpg.; 24th in NCAA) and offensive rebounds (13.9 orpg; 29th in NCAA), as well as second in the MVC in rebound margin (+9.2 rpg.; 19th 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: ILLINOIS STATE

• Following the holiday break, UIC returns to Missouri Valley Conference action for the remainder of the 2024-25 regular season, starting Dec. 29 with a trip to Illinois State. Tipoff time from CEFCU Arena in Normal, Ill., is set for 4 p.m. (CT) with the game to be televised live on Marquee Sports Network and ESPN+. In addition, the Flames Network will carry the free live radio broadcast on UICFlames.com with Jonathan Hood and Kenny Williams at the mic.

• Illinois State (7-4, 0-1 MVC) has won three in a row since dropping its Valley opener at Belmont, 99-97 in overtime on Dec. 4. The Redbirds have one final non-conference game on the docket, visiting Cornell Sunday before breaking for the  holidays.

• Illinois State holds a 19-10 edge in the all-time series with UIC, although the two schools have split their four matchups since the Flames joined the MVC prior to the 2022-23 season. Last year, each side prevailed in five-point decisions on the other's home court, with Illinois State winning 69-64 in Chicago, and UIC returning the favor, 61-56 in Normal.

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.