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thevalley
Chris Kohley
89
Winner Southern Ill. SIU 9-12,4-6 MVC
85
UIC UIC 13-7,6-4 MVC
Winner
Southern Ill. SIU
9-12,4-6 MVC
89
Final
85
UIC UIC
13-7,6-4 MVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southern Ill. SIU 46 43 89
UIC UIC 46 39 85

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Basketball Drops Nip-and-Tuck Battle to Southern Illinois, 89-85

Five Flames finish in double figures, led by season-high 23 points from Jordan Mason.

CHICAGO (Jan. 25, 2025) — For the second game in a row, junior guard Jordan Mason (San Antonio, Texas/Clark/Texas State) posted a season scoring high, finishing with 23 points to pace five UIC players in double figures, but it wasn't quite enough to hold off a hot-shooting Southern Illinois squad, 89-85 in Missouri Valley Conference action Saturday at Credit Union 1 Arena. It was the fifth time in the last six matchups between the Flames and Salukis, all since UIC joined the MVC in 2022-23, that the result came down to key plays in the final minute.

Mason added a season-high seven assists, while sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Niagara) scored 16 points off the bench for the second consecutive outing for UIC (13-7, 6-4 MVC). Junior guard Javon Jackson (Houston, Texas/C.E. King/Southern Nazarene/Utah State) missed a large portion of the second half due to foul trouble but ended up with 14 points, while graduate student guard Tyem Freeman (Springfield, Mo./Hillcrest/UCF/Kent State) and senior forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) each chipped in 11 points, with Freeman also tallying a game-high six rebounds.

The full box score and play-by-play recap from Saturday's game against Southern Illinois can be found here.

COACH'S COMMENTS

SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
  • No fewer than 12 of the past 13 games in the UIC-SIU series have been decided by 10 points or fewer, with five of the past six decided within the final minute.
  • This was the 13th time this season the Flames had at least four players score in double figures, having had five in a game for the first time since Dec. 20, when they had six in double digits during a win at Seattle U.
  • The Flames topped the 80-point mark and also knocked down at least 10 3-pointers in a game, both for the 10th time this season (7-3 record in those games).
  • UIC shot 50 percent or better from the field and over 40 percent from the 3-point line, both for the ninth time this year (7-2 record in those games).
  • Mason is the fourth different UIC player to post a 20-point game this season, finishing two points shy of his career high (25 vs. Troy in the Sun Belt Tournament on March 9, 2024, when he was playing for Texas State). His previous season high was 19 points on Wednesday at Evansville.
  • Mason also dished out a season-high seven assists after having five dimes in five different games, including Wednesday at Evansville. His career high is eight assists against LeTourneau on Dec. 18, 2023, also while at Texas State.
  • Henderson tied his career high by going 8-of-8 at the foul line, marks he previously set twice this season (Nov. 8 vs. Yale; Nov. 22 vs. La Salle).

UP NEXT
UIC starts the second half of its conference schedule at 7 p.m. (CT) Wednesday, when the Flames match up with Bradley at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill. The game will be televised live on ESPN+, 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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