THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• Wednesday's game will be just the 12th time UIC and Bradley have met on the hardwood, with the Braves holding a 9-2 series lead.

• Eight of the previous 11 games in the series between the Flames and Braves have been decided by 10 points or less.

• This will be the second meeting of the season between UIC and Bradley. Back on Jan. 13, the Braves earned a 77-59 victory at Credit Union 1 Arena. The Flames played Bradley virtually even over the final 32-plus minutes, but couldn't quite overcome an early cold spell. Sophomore guard CJ Jones led UIC with a career-high 25 points on that afternoon.

MORE ON BRADLEY

• Bradley carries a 17-8 record into Wednesday's conference contest, including a 9-5 record in MVC action.

• The Braves have lost their last two games, both by single digits, following a stretch that saw them win 11 of 12. Most recently, Bradley dropped a 74-67 decision at home to Drake on Feb. 10.

• Junior guard Connor Hickman leads the Braves in scoring (14.7 ppg.) with senior guard Duke Deen and fifth-year senior Malevy Leons tied for second at 13.8 ppg. Leons also grabs a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game.

FLAMES FIRING UP IN FEBRUARY 

• During the early portion of the month of February, UIC has turned in several gritty, focused performances, going 2-1 with wins over Illinois State and UNI (and only a three-point loss to Southern Illinois).

• In those three games, the Flames are shooting .461 from the field (70-of-152), including .396 from three-point range (19-of-48). UIC has also been sharp at the foul line in that span, making 88 percent of its free throws (44-of-50).

• The Flames have also held their last three opponents to a combined .236 from the three-point line (13-of-55), with Sunday's .190 mark by UNI matching the lowest by a UIC opponent in conference play this year.

KEEPING UP WITH JONES

• Sophomore guard CJ Jones has clearly emerged as one of the MVC's most improved players, ranking third in the MVC with 4.52 assists per game and 11th with a 1.57 assist/turnover ratio.

• Jones has more than doubled his assist average from last year (2.1 apg.) and improved his assist/turnover ratio by over 16 percent from a season ago (1.35). 

• Jones is also averaging 11.4 points per game this season (up more than 83 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, and most recently on Sunday, he nearly matches that output with 24 points in a win over UNI.

TOBY OKANI - SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

• As of Tuesday, senior guard Toby Okani ranks 24th 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, while ranking third in rebounding (7.48 rpg.), fifth in double-doubles (4) and defensive rebounds (5.80), and 10th in steals (1.40).

• Okani is one of just three players in the MVC to rank in the top 10 in the conference in the three primary defensive categories (rebounding, steals and blocks).

• Okani ranks second in the Valley with seven double-digit rebound games this season, including three of his last four.

• 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 conference-high and career-best 53 blocks this year, good for 10th on the UIC single-season list (Derrick Johnson is ninth with 56 in 1987-88).

RIVERA BRINGS THE HEAT FOR FLAMES

• Senior guard Isaiah Rivera has emerged as one of the Flames' top offensive threats this year, ranking 13th in the MVC in scoring with a team-high 14.4 points per game and eighth in the conference in three-point percentage (.412).

• 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.

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 15 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).

• UIC is one of only two MVC schools to have two players among the top 10 in the Valley in three-point percentage — junior forward Filip Skobalj (3rd - .434) and senior guard Isaiah Rivera (8th - .412).

• For the season, the Flames are fourth in the MVC in both three-pointers made (8.56 per game) and three-point percentage (.364).

FLAMES THROWING A BLOCK PARTY

• As of Tuesday, UIC ranks ninth in the nation in blocks (5.6 bpg.) and 11th in three-point percentage defense (.287).

• 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 4.3 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 Flames drew a season-high crowd of 4,056 fans for their Feb. 3 matchup against Southern Illinois at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• 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.

• Graduate student guard and Chicago native Marquise Kennedy is closing in on a pair of personal milestones, needing six points for 1,000 and three assists for 200 in his career.

LAST TIME OUT: NORTHERN IOWA

• Sophomore guard CJ Jones poured in a game-high 24 points and junior forward Filip Skobalj added a career-best 21 points and did not miss a shot as UIC picked up its second consecutive MVC win, 71-65 over Northern Iowa on Sunday afternoon at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• Jones connected on 10-of-15 shots from the field, while Skobalj went 7-for-7, including a career-high 5-for-5 from the three-point line and also converted both ends of a 1-and-1 with 19 seconds left and the Flames leading by four.

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: BELMONT

• UIC tips off the final quarter of the MVC regular season when it plays host to Belmont at 1 p.m. (CT) Sunday at Credit Union 1 Arena. ESPN+ will carry the game live and the Flames Network radio call is always free on UICFlames.com.

• Belmont (14-11, 7-7 MVC) is in a three-way tie for fifth place in the MVC as it prepares to host Southern Illinois Wednesday night.

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.