THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• Wednesday's matchup will be the 12th in the series between UIC and Drake. The Bulldogs hold a 9-2 series lead against the Flames.

• UIC and Drake played twice in 2022-23 during the Flames' inaugural season in the MVC. The Bulldogs won both of those encounters — 77-64 in Des Moines on Dec. 3, 2022, and 76-71 in overtime on Jan. 10, 2023 at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• That most recent matchup in Chicago featured seven ties and five lead changes, with UIC forcing overtime on a layup with :09 left. The score was tied twice in OT and the Flames drew within 69-68 on a three-pointer by current junior forward Filip Skobalj with :54 to play, but Drake scored seven of the final 10 points to pull out the decision.

• Current senior guard Toby Okani averaged 16.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in last year's two meetings with Drake, including 19 points (8-10 FG) in the OT rematch last January.

• UIC is seeking its first win over Drake since Dec. 4, 2000, when the Flames posted an 82-73 victory at Credit Union 1 Arena.

MORE ON DRAKE

• Drake is the defending MVC Tournament champion and is coming off its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in three years.

• The Bulldogs were tops in this year's MVC preseason poll.

• Drake comes into Wednesday's game at UIC with a 23-6 record, including a 14-4 mark in MVC play. The Bulldogs are currently in second place in the conference standings, one game behind Indiana State.

• Drake had its five-game winning streak snapped last Saturday with a 91-77 loss at in-state rival Northern Iowa.

• The Bulldogs are led by junior forward Tucker DeVries (the reigning MVC Larry Bird Trophy recipient as the conference Player of the Year), who ranks second in the Valley in scoring this season (21.0 ppg.) and eighth in rebounding (6.7 rpg.). Graduate student forward Darnell Brodie leads the MVC with a .651 field-goal percentage and is second with a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game.

THE ZAY-HEY KID

• 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 15.2 points per game and third in the conference in three-point percentage (.423).

• Rivera has scored in double figures a team-best 21 times this season and has the first eight 20-point games of his career (tied for eighth in the MVC), including a career-high 28 points on Feb. 3 against Southern Illinois.

• Rivera has been especially sharp during the month of February, averaging 18.0 ppg. with three of his four career 25-point outings in that seven-game span.

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 4.62 assists per game and 10th with a 1.60 assist/turnover ratio.

• Jones has more than doubled his assist average from last year (2.1 apg.) and improved his assist/turnover ratio over 18 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 3.4 rebounds per game (improving nearly 79 percent from last year's 1.9 rpg.).

• Jones has recorded 5+ assists in 13 games this season, including nine contests in which he registered at least seven assists. He is one of just three MVC players with two 10-assist games this season (career-high 11 against Western Michigan on Dec. 16; 10 vs. Evansville on Wednesday night).

• 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 (2.00 bpg.), while ranking fifth in double-doubles (4), sixth in overall rebounding (6.93 rpg.), seventh in defensive rebounding (5.31 drpg.) and ninth in steals (1.38 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 fourth 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 58 blocks this year, good for ninth on the UIC single-season list (next up are Dave Williams and Sherell Ford, who each had 67 blocks during the 1981-82 and 1992-93 seasons, respectively).

TRIPLE SHOT POWER

• UIC has been quite proficient beyond the arc this season, making at least 10 three-pointers in 12 games and shooting over 35 percent from deep 18 times.

• Eight different UIC players have made at least 10 three-pointers this year, including six with 25 treys.

• UIC is the only school with two players among the top seven in the MVC in three-point percentage (and shooting better than 40 percent from distance) — senior guard Isaiah Rivera (3rd - .423) and junior forward Filip Skobalj (7th - .405).

• The Flames are second in the MVC in three-point percentage (.370) and fourth in three-pointers made (8.72 per game).

FLAMES THROWING A BLOCK PARTY

• As of Tuesday, UIC ranks ninth in the nation in blocks (5.5 bpg.).

• 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: INDIANA STATE

• Senior guard Isaiah Rivera led five UIC players in double figures with a team-high 16 points, but the Flames were unable to complete a gritty second-half comeback, dropping an 88-73 decision at Indiana State on Saturday night.

• Senior guard Toby Okani scored 15 points for the Flames, while graduate student guard Marquise Kennedy had his best offensive game in a UIC uniform with 12 points and tied his career high with four steals.

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: MISSOURI STATE

• The Flames close out the regular season at 1 p.m. (CT) Sunday with a visit to Missouri State. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and free of charge on the Flames Network at UICFlames.com.

• Missouri State (15-14, 7-11 MVC) has lost its last two games prior to Wednesday's road contest at Illinois State.

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.