THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• This will be the 11th meeting between UIC and Evansville on the hardwood, with the Flames maintaining a 8-2 edge in the all-time series with the Purple Aces, including a 3-2 record on the road.

• Eight of the 10 series games between UIC and Evansville have been decided by single digits, including six of the past seven.

• 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.

• Last year, the Flames and Purple Aces split their two matchups, each winning on their home floor. Evansville won 77-60 on Jan. 31, 2024, at the Ford Center, before UIC prevailed 88-79 on Feb. 21, 2024, in Chicago. Current senior forward Filip Škobalj averaged 13.0 ppg. in those two games last year.

MORE ON EVANSVILLE

• Evansville (6-13, 3-5 MVC) comes into Wednesday's game with UIC having lost three in a row and four of five.

• The Purple Aces are coming off an 85-82 loss at home to Belmont on Saturday. Evansville had five double-figure scorers, led by junior guard Cam Haffner's 25 points and a balanced line (16 points/seven rebounds/six assists) from classmate Tayshawn Comer.

• In the Belmont game, UE also welcomed back freshman forward and leading scorer Gabriel Pozzato (14.4 ppg.) who had missed the prior eight games with a back injury. Comer is second on the team in scoring (13.7 ppg.), while Haffner adds 13.2 ppg.

• Now in his third season as head coach at Evansville, David Ragland has a 28-58 (.326) record with the Purple Aces, including a 1-3 record against UIC.

GAME #18 RECAP - VALPARAISO

• Senior forward Filip Škobalj put UIC ahead to stay on a three-pointer with 2:54 left and junior guard Javon Jackson 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 on Saturday.

• 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 scored 15 points, redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris tallied 13 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore forward Saša Ciani registered his third consecutive double-double and MVC-leading seventh of the season with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

NOTING THE VALPARAISO GAME

• 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.

• 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 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.

• UIC is 6-3 this season in games decided by single digits, including three OT 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 home win over Drake on New Year's Day.

JACKSON MVC NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK

• Junior guard Javon Jackson was selected as the MVC Newcomer of the Week, the conference announced Monday. It's the second weekly award of the season for Jackson, who was named MVC Player of the Week on Nov. 11. Jackson is also the second UIC player chosen as the Valley's Newcomer of the Week, joining sophomore forward Saša Ciani, who received the honor on Dec. 30.

• Jackson played a critical role in UIC's two conference wins last week, averaging 23.5 points and 3.5 assists per game with a .469 field-goal percentage and .824 free-throw percentage as the Flames downed Murray State at home in double overtime and went on the road to defeat Valparaiso. Jackson led UIC in scoring in both wins, tallying a career-high (and game-best) 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting against Murray State, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:02 left in the second overtime to give the Flames their first win over the Racers since 2006. He then scored 17 points and converted a career-high 11-of-13 free throws (7-of-8 in the final 2:30) to seal the road win at Valparaiso, giving UIC its fifth conference win this year, its highest season total since joining the MVC in 2022-23.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS

• Sophomore forward Saša Ciani leads the MVC in rebounding (9.1 rpg.; 31st in NCAA), as well as offensive rebounding (3.18 orpg.; 38th in NCAA), defensive rebounding (5.94 drpg.; 55th in NCAA) and double-doubles (7; 25th in NCAA).

• As a team, UIC is tops in the Valley in rebounding (38.7 rpg.) and offensive rebounds (11.72 orpg.), as well as second in the MVC in rebound margin (+6.5 rpg.; 36th in NCAA).

• UIC grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in the Dec. 15 win at Little Rock, its highest total on the offensive glass since Jan. 8, 2017, when the Flames had 24 offensive boards in a 58-57 home loss to Oakland.

FILLING IT UP

• Senior forward Filip Škobalj ranks fifth in the MVC with a .454 three-point percentage and is eighth in school history with 207 career three-pointers.

• Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II is second in the MVC and ranks 24th in the nation with a .900 free throw percentage this season.

POTENT NOTABLES

• Entering Wednesday's game, UIC has an average opponent NET ranking of 74, which is the highest in the Valley.

• UIC earned three points in this week's College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll, good for 52nd if the poll were extended.

• UIC is 2-2 this season against teams ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll (wins over No. 13 Yale on Nov. 18 and No. 1 Drake on Jan. 1; five-point loss at No. 20 Belmont on Jan. 4; one-point loss vs. No. 2 Bradley on Jan. 11).

• The Flames have three wins over NET Top 125 teams under their belt (Nov. 13 vs. Yale, Dec. 29 at Illinois State, Jan. 1 vs. Drake), with the Illinois State and Drake wins also Quad 2 victories.

• UIC nearly claimed a Quad 1 win at Northwestern on Nov. 12 (trailed 74-70 with 1:20 left; lost 83-74) and two more Quad 2 victories at Belmont on Jan. 4 (lost 92-87 after game-tying 3FG attempt spun in and out with :07 left) and at home vs. Bradley on Jan. 11 (led for nearly all of final 36 minutes before a last-second three-pointer; lost 61-60).

• With its Nov. 22 win over La Salle at the Boardwalk Battle, UIC collected its third victory over an Atlantic 10 Conference opponent in the past two seasons, following up last year's victories over Loyola and George Washington.

• UIC has had at least four double-digit scorers in 11 games this season. The Flames had a season-high six in their Dec. 20 road win at Seattle U., the  most for UIC in a single game since March 2018.

• UIC has knocked down at least 10 three-pointers in eight games this year.

• The Flames have scored at least 80 points nine times this season and topped the 90-point mark on five occasions.

• This season marked the first time in the 78-year history of the UIC men's basketball program that it had four 90-point outings in its first six games.

• UIC has shot 45 percent or better in 12 games this year, and over 50 percent eight times (season-high 60.0 percent on Nov. 16 against Saint Mary's-Minn.).

NEW FACES, NEW PLACES

• There are a lot of new faces in Sparky's camp this season, as UIC welcomes 11 newcomers to its roster, including eight transfers (all from Division I programs).

• Three of those arrivals bring with them playing experience in the NCAA Tournament from their prior stops — Javon Jackson (Utah State), Modestas Kancleris (Creighton) and Joshua Reaves (Mount St. Mary's).

• Among the new arrivals to Chicago's College Team are junior guard Jordan Mason (9.4 ppg. in two years at Texas State), graduate guard Joshua Reaves (7.5 ppg. and a .368 3FG% in four years at Mount St. Mary's), junior guard Javon Jackson (10.5 ppg. in two years at Southern Nazarene and Utah State) and sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II (11.2 ppg. in one year at Niagara).

• UIC's roster has a distinct international flair with four European student-athletes — senior forward Filip Škobalj (Belgrade, Serbia), Kancleris (Kaunas, Lithuania), sophomore forward Saša Ciani (Nova Gorica, Slovenia) and freshman Iker Garmendia (Barcelona, Spain).

• The last time UIC had four international players on its roster was the 2020-21 season — Škobalj (Serbia), Jamie Ahale (Australia), Marcus Larsson (Norway) and Jalen Warren (Canada).

UP NEXT: SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

• UIC will play three of its next four MVC games at home, beginning Saturday with a 2 p.m. (CT) meeting against Southern Illinois at Credit Union 1 Arena. ESPN+ will carry the game live, while fans are encouraged to tune into the free Flames Network broadcast at UICFlames.com with Jonathan Hood and Kenny Williams describing the action.

• Southern Illinois (8-11, 3-5 MVC) has come alive of late, winning its last three games, most recently a 73-49 win at UNI last Saturday. The Salukis play host to Murray State Wednesday night before heading to Chicago this weekend. 

• The Flames are 5-10 all-time against SIU (3-3 at home). The teams met three times last year, with the Salukis winning both regular season games before UIC prevailed in their MVC Tournament opener (84-82 in double overtime).

THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN

• Tickets 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 purchase passes for the US Solar Courtside Club at Credit Union 1 Arena through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office or the arena box office.