THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• UIC and Belmont had never met before both schools joined the Missouri Valley Conference in advance of the 2022-23 season.

• While the Bruins have won all three meetings in the abbreviated series with the Flames, two of the three matchups were decided by single digits (77-71 on Jan. 4, 2023, in Chicago; 74-65 on Jan. 27, 2024, in Nashville).

• In the teams' first meeting this season back on Jan. 27 at the Curb Event Center, UIC took an eight-point lead in the first half and led by three at the break, but a 13-2 run by Belmont midway through the second half provided just enough margin for the Bruins to take the victory. Sophomore guard CJ Jones led the Flames with 16 points and eight assists.

• The last time UIC and Belmont met at Credit Union 1 Arena on Jan. 4, 2023, the Flames led for the majority of the first half, but Belmont rallied and took a 77-71 victory. Current junior forward Filip Skobalj (16 points) and current senior guard Toby Okani (11 points) were among three Flames to score in double figures, with Okani adding a game-high eight rebounds.

MORE ON BELMONT

• Belmont is 15-11 this season and has moved above the .500 mark in MVC play with an 8-7 conference record.

• The Bruins have won three in a row and four of their last six games coming into Sunday's matinee at UIC.

• In its last outing, Belmont posted an 82-68 win at home over Southern Illinois.

• Sophomore forward (and Vanderbilt transfer) Malik Dia continues to lead Belmont in scoring (17.5 ppg.) and shares the team's rebounding lead with sophomore guard/forward Cade Tyson (5.7 rpg.). The Bruins have also welcomed back sophomore guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie (17.2 ppg.), who is also logging 4.3 assists, 4.1 rebounds and a conference-high 2.4 steals per game. Gillespie missed eight games earlier this season with an injury, including Belmont's first matchup with UIC on Jan. 27 in Nashville.

1K FOR MR. K(ENNEDY)

• Graduate student guard and Chicago native Marquise Kennedy reached a personal milestone on Wednesday, scoring the 1,000th point of his career in the secod half of UIC's game at Bradley.

• Kennedy now has 1,002 points in his career, which started at Loyola from 2019-20 through 2022-23 before he transferred to UIC last summer.

• Kennedy is also close to another career landmark, needing just two assists for 200 in his career.

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 14.9 points per game and fifth in the conference in three-point percentage (.417).

• Rivera has scored in double figures a team-best 18 times this season and has the first seven 20-point games of his career, including a career-high 28 points on Feb. 3 against Southern Illinois.

KEEPING UP WITH JONES

• Sophomore guard CJ Jones has clearly emerged as one of the MVC's most improved players, ranking fourth in the MVC with 4.46 assists per game and 14th with a 1.51 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 11 percent from a season ago (1.35). 

• Jones is also averaging 11.5 points per game this season (up more than 85 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 last Sunday (Feb. 11), he nearly matched that output with 24 points in a win over UNI.

TOBY OKANI - SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

• Senior guard Toby Okani leads the MVC in blocks (2.12 bpg.), while ranking fifth in rebounding (7.27 rpg.), defensive rebounds (5.65 drpg.) and double-doubles (4), and 10th in steals (1.35 spg.).

• 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 is tied for second in the Valley with seven double-digit rebound games this season, including three of his last five.

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

TRIPLE SHOT POWER

• UIC has been particularly proficient beyond the arc this season, making at least 10 three-pointers in 11 games and shooting better than 35 percent from deep 16 times.

• Seven different UIC players have made at least 10 three-pointers this year (and another has nine), including five with 25 treys.

• UIC is the only MVC school to have two players among the top five in the Valley in three-point percentage — junior forward Filip Skobalj (3rd - .436) and senior guard Isaiah Rivera (5th - .417).

• For the season, the Flames are fourth in the MVC in both three-pointers made (8.62 per game) and three-point percentage (.369).

FLAMES THROWING A BLOCK PARTY

• As of Friday, UIC ranks ninth in the nation in blocks (5.5 bpg.) and 14th 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 4.3 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 game against Southern Illinois at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• That attendance was the best for UIC in the 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: BRADLEY

• Senior guard Isaiah Rivera scored a game-high 27 points, but UIC wasn't quite able to climb back from an early second-half deficit, dropping an 85-73 decision at Bradley in MVC action Wednesday night at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill.

• Sophomore guard CJ Jones scored 14 points, while graduate student guard Marquise Kennedy reached a personal milestone with his 1,000th career point during the second half. Freshman forward Nathan Ojukwu set season highs for points (8) and steals (3) while adding four rebounds in 17 minutes.

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: EVANSVILLE

• UIC will be right back on the hardwood at Credit Union 1 Arena at 7 p.m. (CT) Wednesday when it takes on Evansville. The game can be seen live on ESPN+ and can be heard live and free of charge on the Flames Network at UICFlames.com.

• Evansville (15-11, 6-9 MVC) has dropped consecutive three-point decisions after a four-game winning streak as it pays a visit to Illinois State on Sunday.

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.