THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• UIC and Northern Iowa will be squaring off for the 25th time in what has been a closely-contested series, with the Panthers holding a slim 13-11 edge all-time against the Flames.

• Since UIC joined the MVC prior to last season, both matchups between the schools have been single-digit margins. Northern Iowa prevailed 78-72 on Jan. 21, 2023, at Credit Union 1 Arena (in a game the Flames led for the first 33 minutes of the contest) and 67-59 earlier this season (Jan. 10 in Cedar Falls in a game that was a single-digit contest from start to finish).

• UIC and Northern Iowa previously shared membership in the Association of Mid-Continent Universities/Mid-Continent Conference (now known as the Summit League) from 1981-82 to 1990-91, meeting on average twice annually during that span. Between that conference affiliation and their current MVC membership, the schools have met 23 times under the same conference banner, with Northern Iowa holding a 13-9 series lead over UIC.

MORE ON NORTHERN IOWA

• Northern Iowa comes into this weekend's contest with a 13-11 record, including a 7-6 mark in MVC play.

• After a rocky start to their season, the Panthers have won 10 of their last 14 games. Most recently, UNI stopped a brief three-game losing streak with a 72-65 victory over Missouri State on Wednesday night at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

• Junior guards Bowen Born and Nate Heise are UNI's leading scorers this season (13.6 ppg.). Classmate and guard/forward Tytan Anderson leads the team in rebounding (6.2 rpg.) and is third in scoring (11.2 ppg.).

RIVERA BRINGS THE HEAT FOR FLAMES

• Senior guard Isaiah Rivera has emerged as one of the Flames' top offensive threats this year, ranking 12th in the MVC in scoring with a team-high 14.7 points per game and sixth in the conference in three-point percentage (.421).

• Rivera has scored in double figures a team-best 17 times this season and has the first six 20-point games of his career, including a career-high 28 points on Feb. 3 against Southern Illinois.

KEEPING UP WITH JONES

• Among UIC's many second-year players who have shown significant development this season is sophomore guard CJ Jones, who ranks third in the MVC with 4.6 assists per game and 13th in The Valley with a 1.59 assist/turnover ratio.

• Jones has more than doubled his assist average from last year (2.1 apg.) and improved his assist/turnover ratio by almost 18 percent from a season ago (1.35). 

• Jones is also averaging 10.9 points per game this season (up more than 75 percent from last year's 6.2 ppg.) and is logging 3.5 rebounds per game (improving nearly 85 percent from last year's 1.9 rpg.).

• Jones has recorded 5+ assists in 12 games this season, including eight contests in which he registered at least seven assists. Leading the way was his career-high 11-assist day against Western Michigan on Dec. 16.

• On Jan. 13 against Bradley, Jones poured in a career-high 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting, his second career 20-point outing after a 22-point performance in a win over George Washington on Nov. 25 in the Bahamas.

TOBY OKANI - SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

• As of Saturday, senior guard Toby Okani ranks 25th nationally in blocks per game (2.12), one of just two guards to rank among the NCAA Top 25 in that category.

• Okani leads the MVC in blocks (nearly a full half-block ahead of his nearest challenger), while ranking third in rebounding (7.63 rpg.), fourth in double-doubles (4), fifth in defensive rebounds (5.92) and eighth in steals (1.46).

• Okani is one of just two players in the MVC to rank in the top eight in the conference in the three primary defensive categories (rebounding, steals and blocks).

• Okani has collected double-digit rebounds in his last three games (his longest such streak since coming to UIC prior to last year) and ranks second in the Valley with seven double-digit rebound games this season.

• Okani has recorded at least three blocks in eight games this season, including a season-high six rejections in the Nov. 6 opener at Cincinnati.

• Okani has a career-high 51 blocks this year, one shy of moving into the top 10 on the UIC single-season list (Sherell Ford is 10th with 52 swats in 1994-95).

THEY CALL HIM MISTER KENNEDY

• After battling through some nagging injuries during the early part of the season, graduate student guard and Chicago native Marquise Kennedy has come alive lately, averaging 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in his last nine outings. He is also shooting .556 (20-of-36) from the field in that span.

• Kennedy is closing in on a pair of personal milestones, needing 10 points for 1,000 and six assists for 200 in his career.

TRIPLE SHOT POWER

• UIC has been particularly proficient beyond the arc this season, making at least 10 three-pointers in 10 games and shooting better than 35 percent from deep 14 times.

• Seven different UIC players have made at least 10 three-pointers this year (and another has nine), including five with 20 treys (and another with 19).

• For the season, the Flames are fourth in the MVC in three-pointers (8.63 per game) and fifth in three-point percentage (.363).

FLAMES THROWING A BLOCK PARTY

• As of Saturday, UIC ranks ninth in the nation in blocks (5.5 bpg.) and 15th in three-point percentage defense (.291).

• Since blocks became an official NCAA statistic in 1985-86, only one MVC team has finished an entire season averaging better than 5.0 bpg. (Wichita State had 5.1 bpg. in 2013-14).

• UIC is logging 4.2 blocks per game in MVC play, aiming to join five Valley teams that have posted 5.0 bpg. in a single conference season (Wichita State holds the record with 5.6 bpg. in 2013-14).

CROWDED HOUSE

• The last time UIC took the floor at Credit Union 1 Arena, the Flames drew a season-high crowd of 4,056 fans for their Feb. 3 matchup against Southern Illinois.

• That attendance was the best for UIC during the four-year Luke Yaklich era and highest since Feb. 11, 2017 (4,711 vs. Cleveland State).

MAKING THE GRADE

• The UIC men's basketball team posted a program-record 3.18 Fall 2023 GPA, the third time in four semesters the Flames have finished with a record-setting GPA.

• Three Flames players — senior guard Isaiah Rivera, junior forward Filip Skobalj and sophomore guard Drew King — earned a 4.0 GPA last semester.

• The men's basketball team's performance was part of a larger academic success story for UIC athletics last fall, as the 300 Flames' student-athletes combined for a 3.34 department-wide GPA.

THIS & THAT

• During the non-conference portion of its schedule, UIC banked several key wins away from home. The Flames captured victories over two Atlantic 10 Conference opponents (Loyola and George Washington), as well as a 30-point victory over Conference USA preseason co-favorite Middle Tennessee.

• The Flames' dual wins over A-10 schools, both away from home (at Loyola on Nov. 14; vs. George Washington in the Bahamas on Nov. 25), marked the first time in program history UIC defeated two A-10 teams in the same season.

LAST TIME OUT: ILLINOIS STATE

• Sophomore guard CJ Jones scored a team-high 13 points and senior guard Toby Okani came up with three clutch plays in the final 90 seconds to help UIC earn a gritty 61-56 road win at Illinois State on Wednesday night.

• Okani finished with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds, registering a key block and rebound with 1:30 left, adding another rebound with 46 seconds to go, and converting both ends of a 1-and-1 with two seconds left to secure the win.

CARLOS HARRIS SIGNS WITH UIC

• On Nov. 9, UIC announced point guard Carlos Harris (6-2, 180) has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Flames beginning in 2024-25.

• One of the top players in the Chicago Public League for Curie Metropolitan High School, Harris averaged 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals per game last season in helping the Condors to a 20-11 record.

• Harris is a three-star athlete who is the No. 35 point guard in the country and the No. 13 player in the state of Illinois in the Class of 2024.

UP NEXT: BRADLEY

• UIC heads downstate for a midweek conference contest, as the Flames travel to Bradley on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. (CT) matchup. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and the free live Flames Network radio feed is on UICFlames.com.

• Bradley (17-7, 9-4 MVC) was in third place in The Valley entering Saturday night's matchup at home against Drake.

THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN

• Season and single-game tickets, as well as mini-plans and flex ticket plans 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 learn more about the benefits associated with purchasing season or single-game passes for the Courtside Club at Credit Union 1 Arena through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office or the arena box office.