THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• This will mark the 16th meeting between UIC and Southern Illinois, with the Salukis maintaining a 10-5 series lead. The series is tied 3-3 when the scene shifts to Chicago.

• No fewer than 11 of the past 12 games in the UIC-Southern Illinois series have been decided by 10 points or less, with an average margin in those games of just 5.5 ppg.

• Since UIC joined the MVC prior to the 2022-23 season, four of its five matchups with SIU have been decided on the final possession, including the final two meetings last season. On Feb. 3, the Flames had a look at a go-ahead shot with less than :02 left but it did not fall and the Salukis made the last of their 26 free throws for a 74-71 decision. Then, on March 7 in the first round of the MVC Tournament, UIC earned its first-ever Arch Madness win, prevailing 84-82 in double overtime after making 1-of-2 foul shots with 2.7 seconds left and dodging SIU's final game-winning 3-point attempt at the 2OT horn.

MORE ON SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

• SIU (8-12, 3-6 MVC) has come alive of late, winning three of its last four games, including a 24-point victory at UNI last weekend. The Salukis are coming off a 74-64 home loss to Murray State on Wednesday night.

• Senior guard Ali Dibba leads four SIU players scoring in double figures at 16.2 ppg., while sophomore guard Kennard Davis Jr. adds 14.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, the latter trailing only graduate student forward Jarrett Hensley (5.5 rpg.) for the team lead. 

• Veteran head coach Scott Nagy is in his first season at SIU, but 30th on the sidelines following stops at South Dakota State and Wright State. He has a 585-344 (.630) career record.

GAME #19 RECAP - EVANSVILLE

• Junior guard Jordan Mason scored a season-high 19 points to pace four UIC players in double figures and added five assists, four rebounds and two steals as the Flames earned their ninth win in 11 games with a 78-67 win over Evansville on Wednesday night at the Ford Center.

• Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II had all 16 of his points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting (3-of-3 from beyond the arc) in the opening 20 minutes. Redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris nearly posted a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, while graduate student guard Tyem Freeman added 10 points for the Flames.

• UIC broke away from a 22-all tie by outscoring Evansville, 25-10 over the final 7:17 of the first half. The Flames stretched the lead to 20 points before the Purple Aces rallied late, but never got closer than seven points. As a unit, UIC shot 48.1 percent from the floor and connected on 11-of-31 three-point tries while posting a +10 rebounding margin.

NOTING THE EVANSVILLE GAME

• UIC has its highest overall (13), conference  (6) and road (6) win totals since the 2021-22 season, its last in the Horizon League (14-16 overall, 9-10 in HL, 8-8 on the road).

• The Flames improve to 9-2 all-time against Evansville, including a 4-2 record on the road. This was UIC's second-largest margin of victory in the series (70-54 on Nov. 21, 2003, also in Evansville).

• UIC moves to 6-2 on the road this year, with both losses by single digits (83-74 at Northwestern on Nov. 12; 92-87 at Belmont on Jan. 4).

• The Flames' current stretch of nine wins in 11 games is its best run over such a span since the 2017-18 season, when they had a similar 9-2 record over 11 games from Jan. 18-Feb. 19, 2018.

• Mason's season-high 19 points topped his previous high of 18 points in UIC's win over La Salle on Nov. 22 at the Boardwalk Battle in Daytona Beach, Fla. Mason also tied his season high with five assists, a mark he's hit four other times this year (most recently on Jan. 4 at Belmont).

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.; 29th in NCAA), as well as offensive rebounding (3.18 orpg.; 44th in NCAA), defensive rebounding (5.94 drpg.; 54th in NCAA) and double-doubles (7; 28th in NCAA).

• As a team, UIC is tops in the Valley in rebounding (38.8 rpg.) and offensive rebounds (11.63 orpg.), as well as second in the MVC in rebound margin (+6.7 rpg.; 33rd 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.

POTENT NOTABLES

• Entering Saturday's game, UIC has an average opponent NET ranking of 96, 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 four wins over NET Top 125 teams under their belt (Nov. 13 vs. Yale, Dec. 29 at Illinois State, Jan. 1 vs. Drake, Jan. 15 vs. Murray State), 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 a Quad 2 victory 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 12 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 nine 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 13 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: BRADLEY

• UIC opens the second half of the MVC season and plays the first of its repeat conference opponents at 7 p.m (CT) Wednesday, when the Flames travel to Peoria, Ill., to take on Valley leader Bradley. The game will air live on ESPN+, while fans are encouraged to tune into the free Flames Network broadcast at UICFlames.com with Jonathan Hood and Kenny Williams describing the action.

• Bradley (17-3, 8-1 MVC) holds a one-game lead over Drake and two-game edge over four teams (including UIC) in the MVC standings entering this weekend's action. The Braves, who are No. 5 in this week's College Insider Mid-Major Poll and earned a vote in this week's Associated Press poll, will play host to Illinois State Saturday afternoon before UIC comes to town next week.

• The Flames are 2-12 all-time against Bradley (0-7 on the road). The teams played back on Jan. 11 at Credit Union 1 Arena, with UIC leading for nearly the final 36 minutes before the Braves escaped with a 61-60 win on a three-pointer with :02 left.

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.