THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• This will be the 10th meeting between UIC and Evansville on the hardwood, with the Flames maintaining a 7-2 edge in the all-time series with the Purple Aces, including a 4-0 record against Evansville at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• Seven of the nine series games between UIC and Evansville have been decided by single digits, including all four in Chicago.

• Before their current shared membership in the Missouri Valley Conference, UIC and Evansville played three separate home-and-home series (2001-02, 2003-04 and 2010-11). The Flames won five of those six non-conference contests.

• During UIC's inaugural season in the MVC in 2022-23, the Flames swept both matchups with the Purple Aces, prevailing 70-61 on Feb. 4, 2023, at Credit Union 1 Arena, and 82-76 on Feb. 22, 2023, in Evansville.

• UE responded with a 77-60 victory in the team's first meeting this season back on Jan. 31 at the Ford Center in Evansville. Senior guard Isaiah Rivera scored a team-high 15 points and senior guard Toby Okani posted a double-double with 13 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for UIC. The Flames dodged foul trouble virtually all night long and held a one-point lead midway through the second half before their foul difficulties finally caught up with them.

MORE ON EVANSVILLE

• Evansville brings a 15-12 record into Wednesday's matchup at UIC, including a 6-10 record in the Missouri Valley Conference.

• The Purple Aces have battled through a series of winning and losing streaks nearly all season and have currently lost three in a row following a four-game winning streak.

• Most recently on Sunday, UE dropped an 86-79 decision on the road at Illinois State.

• Senior forward/guard Ben Humrichous returned to action in the first meeting with UIC after an injury hiatus and leads Evansville in scoring (15.4 ppg.) and three-point percentage (.446). He is followed by senior forward Yacine Toumi, who is second in scoring (11.5 ppg.) and tops in rebounding (6.4 rpg.) and field-goal percentage (.573).

CAREER MILESTONE WATCHES

• Senior guard Toby Okani needs eight rebounds for 600.

• Graduate student guard and Chicago native Marquise Kennedy needs one assist for 200 and five steals for 150.

• Junior forward Filip Skobalj needs one three-pointer for 150.

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 14.8 points per game and fifth in the conference in three-point percentage (.404).

• Rivera has scored in double figures a team-best 19 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 4.44 assists per game and 14th with a 1.52 assist/turnover ratio.

• Jones has more than doubled his assist average from last year (2.1 apg.) and improved his assist/turnover ratio over 12 percent from a season ago (1.35). 

• Jones is also averaging 11.3 points per game this season (up more than 82 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 on 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 (2.04 bpg.), while ranking fifth in double-doubles (4), sixth in rebounding (7.11 rpg.) and defensive rebounds (5.48 drpg.), and 10th in steals (1.33 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 third 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 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.

• Eight different UIC players have made at least 10 three-pointers this year (and another has nine), including six with 20 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 (4th - .425) and senior guard Isaiah Rivera (5th - .404).

• 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 Tuesday, UIC ranks ninth in the nation in blocks (5.5 bpg.) and 19th in three-point percentage defense (.297).

• 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 4.4 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: BELMONT

• Senior guard Toby Okani scored a team-high 17 points to lead three UIC players in double figures, but the Flames were unable to turn back a hot-shooting Belmont squad, falling to the Bruins, 75-60 on Sunday at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• Senior guard Isaiah Rivera added 12 points and a career high-tying eight rebounds, while redshirt sophomore forward Jaden Brownell contributed 10 points for UIC.

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: INDIANA STATE

• The Flames will play two of their final three regular-season games on the road beginning Saturday with a 7 p.m. (CT) contest at Indiana State. The game will be shown live on the MVC TV package, which includes NBC Sports Chicago Plus, most Bally Sports affiliates in the Midwest, and ESPN+. Saturday's game will also be broadcast live and free of charge on the Flames Network at UICFlames.com.

• Indiana State (22-5, 13-3 MVC) is currently tied with Drake atop the MVC standings and will play at Valparaiso Wednesday before returning home to face UIC.

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.