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UIC Athletics

thevalley
Team MSU
Missouri State Athletics
80
Winner UIC UIC 10-5,3-2 MVC
63
Missouri St. MOST 7-9,0-5 MVC
Winner
UIC UIC
10-5,3-2 MVC
80
Final
63
Missouri St. MOST
7-9,0-5 MVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UIC UIC 36 44 80
Missouri St. MOST 27 36 63

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Basketball Delivers Crisp 80-63 Road Win at Missouri State

Flames earn sixth win in seven games, as well as their first win over the Bears since 2001.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Jan. 7, 2025) — Graduate student guard Tyem Freeman (Springfield, Mo./Hillcrest/UCF/Kent State) enjoyed a very happy homecoming with a game-high 18 points, five rebounds and four assists as UIC raced past Missouri State, 80-63 in Missouri Valley Conference action on Tuesday night at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Mo. It was the sixth win in seven games for the Flames (10-5, 3-2 MVC), who also improve to 4-2 on the road this season.

Senior forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) had a perfect shooting night, going 6-for-6 from the field, including 5-for-5 from three-point range (the last being the 200th of his UIC career), to finish with 17 points. Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Niagara) and redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris (Kaunas, Lithuania/Varpas Gimnazija/Creighton/Cal State Bakersfield) added punch off the bench with 12 and 10 points, respectively — Kancleris also had a spotless shooting performance, going 5-for-5.

Collectively, the Flames shot 59.3 percent from the field, including 11-for-20 (.550) from three-point range, and finished with a +16 rebounding edge.

The full box score and play-by-play recap from Tuesday night's win at Missouri State can be found here.
 

COACH'S COMMENTS

SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
  • UIC earned its first win in 12 career visits to Missouri State, and captured its fifth win in 22 series meetings with the Bears (first since an 86-80 victory on Dec. 21, 2001, at the Las Vegas Classic.
  • Tuesday's 17-point win was the largest margin of victory for UIC in a Missouri Valley Conference game during the Flames' three seasons in the Valley (2022-23 to present). It was the largest margin of victory for UIC in any conference game since Jan. 15, 2022, when the Flames prevailed at Horizon League foe Green Bay by the exact same score as Tuesday night at Missouri State (80-63).
  • UIC's .593 field-goal percentage was a season-high against a Division I opponent, surpassing its .574 mark on Jan. 1 in a home win over Drake. The only time the Flames shot better from the floor in any game this season was Nov. 16 against Saint Mary's (Minn.), when they shot an even 60 percent.
  • The Flames posted a season-best .550 three-point percentage, their highest in a game since Dec. 12, 2023 (.632 vs. Green Bay at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • UIC's +16 rebounding margin was a season-high against a Division I opponent, topping the +15 mark (58-44) in a Dec. 8 home win over Dartmouth. The Flames had a larger rebounding margin this season on Nov. 16 against Saint Mary's-Minn. (+22) and a similar +16 spread in the Nov. 4 season opener against St. Francis (Ill.) — both games were also played at Credit Union 1 Arena. 
  • Skobalj tied his career high by going 5-for-5 from three-point range, matching his performance on Feb. 11, 2024, in a home victory over UNI.
  • Skobalj's perfect shooting from beyond the arc on Tuesday tied a Great Southern Bank Arena record, making him the fifth player in venue history, and just the second visiting player, to go 5-for-5 from deep (the other visitor was Joe Wolfinger of The Citadel in a neutral-site game vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore on Nov. 22, 2009).
  • Skobalj's last three-pointer of the night with 3:15 to play was the 200th of his career, making him the eighth player in school history to reach that milestone. He also attempted his 500th career three-pointer on Tuesday and is currently 200-for-502 (.398) in his career.
  • Freeman's 18 points were one off his season high of 19 points set in the Nov. 8 win over Yale at Credit Union 1 Arena. He also narrowly missed his career high in assists, finishing with a season-best four dimes (his career high is five at Cincinnati on Feb. 23, 2022, while he was playing for UCF).
  • Sophomore forward Sasa Ciani (Nova Gorica, Slovenia/Koder School/Xavier) handed out a career-high six assists, one more than his previous best on Feb. 14, 2024, at Seton Hall while he was playing for Xavier.

UP NEXT
After five of six on the road, UIC is back home for its next two games, beginning Saturday when the Flames play host to MVC leader Bradley at 2 p.m. (CT) at Credit Union 1 Arena. It will be UIC's "Blackout" game, with the first 1,000 fans in attendance receiving a replica black UIC basketball jersey. ESPN+ will carry the game live, 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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