• Hoops for the Holidays ticket discount ($10 lower-level sideline/baseline seats) when purchase online via Ticketmaster using the code "HOLIDAY" or at the arena box office on game night
• Flames Day at the Beach/Beach Ball Giveaway (bring the heat of summer to Credit Union 1 Arena with your favorite beach attire! UIC Flames beach balls will also be given away to early-arriving fans!)

• UIC and Murray State will be squaring off for only the eighth time in their series history, which didn't pick up in earnest until both schools joined the MVC in 2022-23. The Racers hold a 5-2 edge over the Flames, although UIC is 2-1 all-time against Murray State at Credit Union 1 Arena.
• The teams split last year's home-and-home series, each successfully defending their respective courts. UIC won a 97-93 double-overtime thriller on Jan. 15, 2025, in Chicago, before Murray State responded with a 63-53 victory on Feb. 11, 2025, in Murray, Ky.
• Of the seven prior games in the series, five have been decided by 12 points or fewer, including three by single digits.
• Last year's 2OT contest against Murray State at Credit Union 1 Arena was UIC's third multi-overtime game since joining the Valley in 2022-23 (and all three have come against conference opponents - 3OT vs. Drake and 2OT vs. SIU in 2023-24). In the program's 75 seasons preceding their MVC membership, the Flames had played only seven multi-OT games, and none since Feb. 16, 2016 (a 92-91 double-overtime loss at Youngstown State).

• Murray State was one of the bigger beneficiaries of the new college landscape during the offseason, bringing in an entirely new 15-player roster this season, highlighted by 10 transfers.
• The Racers were picked second in the MVC preseason poll and have moved up into the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll, currently checking in at No. 19.
• MSU has won seven in a row, most recently edging Valley opponent Southern Illinois, 84-81 at home on Monday.
• Javon Jackson (who played last season at UIC) ranks fourth in the MVC in scoring this year (16.4 ppg.), while Fred King is tops in rebounding (7.9 rpg.), to go along with 12.9 ppg.
• As a team, Murray State leads the Valley in scoring offense (88.9 ppg.) and ranks second in both three-point percentage (.375) and three-pointers per game (10.6).
• Head coach Ryan Miller is in his first season at MSU after 21 years as an assistant at seven schools (most recently Creighton). Thursday will be his first matchup against UIC.
   

NOTING THE FLAMES

• UIC is playing on New Year's Day for the second consecutive season, but just the third time in program history (records are incomplete prior to the program's ascension to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1981-82). Last year, the Flames knocked off previously-unbeaten (and then-No. 1 Mid Major) Drake, 74-70 at Credit Union 1 Arena. The other New Year's game for UIC came on Jan. 1, 2011 (an 83-59 loss at Cleveland State).
• Through 13 games this season, seven different UIC players have led the team in scoring at least once. Most recently, junior guard/forward Mekhi Lowery had a career-high 17 points and graduate student forward Abdul Momoh added a season-best 17 points to pace Monday's win over Illinois Tech.
• To say UIC's schedule has been challenging this year is putting it mildly. Four of the Flames' 11 Division I opponents have been ranked in the top 10 of the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll at tipoff, including a stretch of three in a row from Dec. 7-17 — No. 6 High Point, No. 3 Yale, No. 5 Belmont and No. 10 UNI (Oregon State and Robert Morris were receiving votes when they faced UIC).
• Three other UIC opponents (all in the Valley) are currently appearing in the College Insider Mid-Major poll — No. 15 Illinois State, No. 19 Murray State and No. 25 Bradley.
• The Flames will face three more ranked teams in their next five outings — No. 19 MSU at home Thursday; No. 15 ISU on the road Jan. 10; now-No. 7 UNI on the road Jan. 13).
• The Flames have come oh-so-close to victory on several occasions this year, with six losses by 10 points or fewer and/or in overtime (four against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major poll), including four by three points or fewer and/or in overtime. In those latter four "one-possession" games, UIC had the ball each time with a chance to tie or win the game in the closing seconds, but despite a clean look each time, the Flames' shots did not fall.
• UIC rang up 14 steals in its Dec. 17 matchup against UNI, the most thefts for the Flames against a Division I opponent in nearly 18 years (school-record 25 vs. Howard on Dec. 22, 2007, also at Credit Union 1 Arena).
• On Dec. 13 at Belmont, graduate student guard Josiah Hammons torched the nets for a career-high 31 points on 8-of-16 three-pointers, the most points by a UIC player in a regulation game since Nov. 23, 2016 (32 by Dikembe Dixson vs. Elon). Hammons' eight triples were one off the school record and his 16 attempts tied the UIC record set by Cedrick Banks vs. Wright State on Feb. 23, 2005.
• One of the brighter spots for UIC this season has been the growth of redshirt freshman forward Jayce Nathaniel. After averaging 4.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in three games last season, the Atlanta native has nearly doubled his scoring output (8.0 ppg.) and rebounding production (5.3 rpg.), ranking second in the MVC in offensive rebounds (3.0 orpg.). He has also scored in double figures four times this year, including a career-high 16 points at Oregon State on Nov. 7, and posted his first career double-double on Dec. 3 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
• UIC's dynamic freshman guard duo of Andy Johnson and Rashund Washington Jr. ranks first and third on the team in scoring this year, combining to average nearly 23 points per game (Johnson - 13.6 ppg./tops among MVC freshmen and seventh overall; Washington - 9.3 ppg.).
• Graduate student Abdul Momoh has been a strong rim protector for the Flames this season, ranking third in the MVC in blocks (1.54 bpg.) and recording multiple blocked shots in six games, including a season-best four swats on Nov. 20 against High Point.
• UIC has looked sharp against its fellow Chicagoland schools across all sports during the 2025-26 academic year. With Monday's win over Illinois Tech, Flames teams are now 12-0-2 head-to-head against Windy City opponents this year (3-0 men's basketball; 3-0 volleyball; 3-0-1 men's soccer; 2-0 women's basketball; 1-0-1 women's soccer), the best intracity record by any of Chicago's Division I schools.
• On Nov. 13, UIC announced the signing of Dikembe Shaw, a 6-7 forward from Crown Point, Ind. for 2026-27. Shaw was an all-state selection and Indiana Junior All-Star pick last year while attending Crown Point High School, averaging 16.2 ppg., 6.7 rpg., 3.4 apg. and 1.3 spg., while helping the Bulldogs to a 24-2 record and a berth in the Indiana Class 4A semistate final. He also averaged 12.9 ppg. and 5.9 rpg. during the summer 2025 club season while competing for Indiana Elite 3SSB (3Stripes Select Basketball).

UP NEXT: VALPARAISO
The Flames make the short drive east on Sunday for a 2 p.m. (CT) MVC matinee at longtime regional rival Valparaiso. The game will be televised live from the Athletics-Recreation Center on ESPN+.