THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• UIC and Missouri State will be meeting for the 22nd time, with the Bears holding a 17-4 edge in the series, including all four matchups since the Flames joined the MVC in 2022-23. Of note, 12 of the prior 21 series games have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including six of the last nine.

• Missouri State won the lone meeting between the schools last year, a 69-59 decision in the regular-season finale at Great Southern Bank Arena. Current senior forward Filip Škobalj had 12 points and six rebounds in last year's visit to Springfield.

• UIC's last win over Missouri State came on Dec. 21, 2001, when it claimed an 86-80 decision over the Bears at the Las Vegas Classic.

• UIC and Missouri State are sharing conference membership for the second time, having also squared off under the Mid-Continent Conference (now Summit League) banner from 1982-90. This latest conference partnership ends after this season when the Bears depart the Valley to join Conference USA.

MORE ON MISSOURI STATE

• Although still seeking its first conference win of the season, Missouri State (7-8, 0-4 MVC) has played numerous close games this season, including three of their four Valley contests that were decided by single digits, including one-possession losses at home to Indiana State (80-77) and Valparaiso (73-72).

• The Bears are coming off another hard-fought decision on Saturday, a 69-60 loss at conference leader Bradley. Junior guard Vincent Brady II (a transfer from IU Indy) scored a career-high 29 points in the contest.

• Sophomore guard Dez White ranks third in the MVC in scoring (16.5 ppg.), while Brady is eighth in the conference in scoring (14.5 ppg.). The Bears also have two of the top three rebounders in the Valley in junior forward Michael Osei-Bonsu (2nd - 7.7 rpg.) and junior guard Jalen Hampton (3rd - 7.5 rpg.).

• Head coach Cuonzo Martin is in the first year of his second stint at Missouri State, owning a combined 68-49 (.581) record in his four seasons in Springfield. He has been a collegiate head coach for 15 years (with additional stops at Tennessee, California and Missouri) and maintains a 271-206 (.568) career record.

GAME #14 RECAP - BELMONT

• Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II scored a season-high 18 points to lead four UIC players in double figures, but his bid for a game-tying three-pointer with seven seconds left barely rimmed out and Belmont, which was ranked No. 20 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll, converted two free throws to clinch a 92-87 decision over the Flames on Saturday at the Curb Event Center in Nashville. The result snapped UIC's season-best five-game winning streak and came despite the Flames erasing a double-digit deficit to tie or take the lead for the fourth time in the past five games.

• Junior guard Javon Jackson scored 17 points and grabbed a season-best eight rebounds, graduate student guard Tyem Freeman tallied 13 points and sophomore forward Saša Ciani chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and a career-high four steals. As a team, UIC shot 46.9 percent from the field and knocked down 12 three-pointers, one off its season high.

NOTING THE BELMONT GAME

• UIC topped the 80-point mark for the first time since a 96-83 win over La Salle on Nov. 22 at the Boardwalk Battle in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday's combined 179 points also tied that La Salle score for the second-most points in a UIC game this year (99-81 vs. James Madison on Nov. 21).

• The Flames made 12 three-pointers, tying for the most they have made against a Division I opponent this year (they made 12 vs. Yale on Nov. 8 and a season-high 13 vs. Saint Mary's-Minn. on Nov. 16).

• Henderson scored a season-high 18 points, one more than his 17 points on Nov. 21 against James Madison at the Boardwalk Battle in Daytona Beach. Henderson also made a season-best four three-pointers, one off his career high on Nov. 11, 2023, vs. Bucknell when he was playing for Niagara.

• Jackson's season-high eight rebounds were one shy of his career high on Dec. 17, 2022, vs. Southwestern Oklahoma when he was at Southern Nazarene.

• Ciani's career-high four steals surpassed his previous best of two thefts on two occasions, the last on Nov. 4 against St, Francis (Ill.) in his UIC debut.

• This was the third of UIC's five career matchups against Belmont to be decided by single digits, with Saturday being the closest margin in the abbreviated series.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS

• Sophomore forward Saša Ciani leads the MVC in rebounding (9.2 rpg.; 25th in NCAA), as well as offensive rebounding (3.46 orpg.; 21st in NCAA) and double-doubles (4).

• As a team, UIC is tops in the Valley in rebounding (38.3 rpg.), as well as second in the MVC in rebound margin (+5.6 rpg.;) and offensive rebounds (11.86 orpg.).

• 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 sixth in the MVC with a .438 three-point percentage and is eighth in school history with 195 career three-pointers made.

• Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II continues to lead the MVC and ranks 10th in the nation with a .929 free throw percentage this season.

POTENT NOTABLES

• Entering Tuesday's game, UIC has an average opponent NET ranking of 57, which is the highest in the Valley.

• UIC is 2-1 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).

• The Flames currently have three wins over NET Top 100 teams under their belt (Nov. 13 vs. Yale, Dec. 29 at Illinois State, Jan. 1 vs. Drake), with the Illinois State win also a Quad 2 victory. UIC nearly claimed a Quad 1 win at Northwestern on Nov. 12, falling 83-74 after leading for much of the first half and closing to 74-70 with under 1:20 left before NU salted the game away at the foul line.

• 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 eight 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 seven games this year.

• The Flames have scored at least 80 points six times this season and topped the 90-point mark on four 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 10 games this year, and over 50 percent six 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 will be back at Credit Union 1 Arena next weekend to begin a two-game MVC homestand when it welcomes Bradley to town at 2 p.m. (CT) Saturday. It will be the Flames' "Blackout the Arena" game, with the first 1,000 fans in attendance receiving a black replica UIC basketball jersey.

• ESPN+ will broadcast 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.

• Bradley (13-2, 4-0 MVC) is currently the lone remaining unbeaten team in Valley play. The Braves, who are No. 2 in this week's College Insider Mid-Major poll and will be the Flames' third top-20 foe in a four-game span, will play host to Drake Wednesday before coming up to Chicago next weekend.

• UIC is 2-11 all-time against Bradley and will be in search of its first win against the Braves since Nov. 17, 2018 (a 71-70 victory at Credit Union 1 Arena, prior to the Flames' joining the MVC in 2022-23).

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.