VALPARAISO, Ind. (Jan. 18, 2025) — Senior forward
Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) put UIC ahead to stay on a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2:54 to play and junior guard
Javon Jackson (Houston, Texas/C.E. King/Southern Nazarene/Utah State) converted 7-of-8 free throws in the closing minutes to help the Flames earn their eighth win in the past 10 outings, 81-74 at Valparaiso in Missouri Valley Conference action Saturday afternoon. With the victory, UIC (12-6, 5-3 MVC) has matched its overall win total from each of the past two seasons, while surpassing its conference win total in those initial two campaigns as an MVC member (4 in both 2022-23 and 2023-24).
Jackson finished with a team-high 17 points to lead four Flames in double figures, with seven UIC players finishing with at least eight points. Sophomore guard
Ahmad Henderson II (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Niagara) scored 15 points, redshirt senior forward
Modestas Kancleris (Kaunas, Lithuania/Varpas Gimnazija/Creighton/Cal State Bakersfield) tallied 13 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore forward
Sasa Ciani (Nova Gorica, Slovenia/Koder School/Xavier) registered his third consecutive double-double and MVC-leading seventh of the season with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The full box score and play-by-play recap from Saturday's win at Valparaiso can be found
here.
COACH'S COMMENTS
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- UIC's five conference wins and five road wins are the most for the program since the 2021-22 season, its last in the Horizon League (9-10 in conference, 8-8 on the road). That season was also the last time the Flames had more than 12 wins in a campaign (14-16 record).
- During this current 10-game stretch that has seen UIC go 8-2, eight games have been decided by single digits and three went to overtime. The Flames' only two losses in that time were a 92-87 setback at Belmont on Jan. 4 (game-tying 3FG attempt with :07 left spun out) and a 61-60 loss at home to Bradley on Jan. 11 (on a Bradley 3FG with two seconds remaining).
- UIC improves to 34-28 all-time against Valparaiso and has won five of the past seven games with the Beacons. This was the sixth consecutive meeting between the schools to be decided by single digits.
- The Flames also earned their second win in their last 13 visits to Valparaiso, along with a 74-70 OT victory on Nov. 13, 2021.
- Saturday marked the 11th time this year UIC had four players score in double figures.
- This was the ninth 80-point game for the Flames this season.
- UIC is 6-3 this season in games decided by single digits, including three overtime wins.
- Jackson set career highs by going 11-of-13 from the free throw line after going 10-of-12 from the stripe in UIC's win over Drake on New Year's Day at Credit Union 1 Arena.
UP NEXT
UIC will head south for its second consecutive Valley matchup in the state of Indiana when the Flames visit Evansville at 7 p.m. (CT) Wednesday. The game will air live on ESPN+ from the Ford Center, while fans are encouraged to listen to the game free of charge on the Flames Network at
UICFlames.com.
FOLLOW THE FLAMES
For more information on UIC men's basketball, fans are encouraged to visit
UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (
@UIC_MBB and
@UICFlames) and Instagram (
@uic_mbb and
@uicflames).
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