THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• Wednesday's game will mark the 29th meeting between UIC and Illinois State, with the Redbirds leading the in-state rivalry, 19-9.

• The series has traditionally been a close one, with 18 of the previous 28 contests decided by 10 points or less, including the past four (and all three since UIC joined the MVC prior to last season).

• The Flames and Redbirds met back on Nov. 30 in the MVC opener for both squads at Credit Union 1 Arena, with Illinois State rallying late for a 69-64 win. Junior forward Filip Skobalj scored a season-high 17 points and senior guard Isaiah Rivera added 15 points for UIC.

• In UIC's last visit to CEFCU Arena on Feb. 1, 2023, Illinois State pulled out a 68-62 overtime win over the Flames. UIC tied the game with 20 seconds left in regulation and had a look at a game-winning shot as time expired, but it would not fall.

MORE ON ILLINOIS STATE

• Illinois State currently owns an 11-12 record, including a 5-7 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.

• The Redbirds have won three of their last five games, but are coming off a 73-60 loss at home to Bradley last Saturday afternoon. Senior guard Malachi Poindexter came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points for ISU.

• Seven of the past nine games for Illinois State have been decided by 10 points or less.

• Senior guard Darius Burford leads the Redbirds in scoring this season (13.2 ppg.), while senior forward Myles Foster adds 10.8 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game.

• Three members of the UIC coaching staff are Illinois State alums — head coach Luke Yaklich ('98), assistant coach Tony Wills ('17) and director of player personnel Madison Williams ('20). Yaklich also spent four seasons (2013-14 to 2016-17) as an assistant coach/associate head coach at ISU (Wills was a senior and Williams a freshman during Yaklich's final season at Illinois State in 2016-17).

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 sixth in the conference in three-point percentage (.418).

• Rivera has scored in double figures a team-best 16 times this season and has the first six 20-point games of his career, including a career-high 28 points in his most recent outing last Saturday 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 4.7 assists per game and 12th in The Valley 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 by more than 18 percent from a season ago (1.35). 

• Jones is also averaging 10.8 points per game this season (up almost 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 Tuesday, senior guard Toby Okani ranks 25th nationally in blocks per game (2.13), one of just two guards to rank among the NCAA Top 25 in that category.

• Okani leads the MVC in blocks, is third in rebounding (7.48 rpg.) and double-doubles (4), fifth in defensive rebounds (5.87) and seventh in steals (1.48).

• Okani is the only player in the MVC to rank in the top seven in the conference in the three primary defensive categories (rebounding, steals and blocks).

• 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 49 blocks this year, three 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 6.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in his last eight outings. He is also shooting .545 (18-of-33) from the field in that span.

• Kennedy is closing in on a pair of personal milestones, needing 15 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 13 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 third in the MVC in three-pointers (8.74 per game) and fifth in three-point percentage (.362).

FLAMES THROWING A BLOCK PARTY

• As of Friday, UIC ranks ninth in the nation in blocks (5.7 bpg.) and 13th in three-point percentage defense (.290).

• 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).

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: SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

• Senior guard Isaiah Rivera scored a career-high 28 points, but Southern Illinois converted four free throws in the final 21 seconds to edge past UIC, 74-71 in a physical MVC contest on Saturday afternoon before a season-high crowd of 4,056 fans at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• Rivera knocked 7-of-13 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, and went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line, the best performance from the stripe by a UIC player since Dec. 2019. Senior guard Toby Okani added a game-high 11 rebounds for the Flames.

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: NORTHERN IOWA

• The Flames will be back home on Sunday for a 3 p.m. (CT) MVC matinee against Northern Iowa at Credit Union 1 Arena. It will be the nightcap of a basketball doubleheader with the UIC women playing host to Indiana State in the opener at noon (CT). The UIC-Northern Iowa game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the free live Flames Network radio feed is on UICFlames.com.

• UNI (12-11, 6-6 MVC) is tied for fifth place in the Valley standings, but has lost three in a row heading into Wednesday's home game with Missouri 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.