CHICAGO (Feb. 22, 2025) — Redshirt senior forward
Modestas Kancleris (Kaunas, Lithuania/Varpas Gimnazija/Creighton/Cal State Bakersfield) scored a season-high 18 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, helping lift UIC to an 82-77 win over Evansville in Missouri Valley Conference play Saturday at Credit Union 1 Arena. The Flames (16-12, 9-9 MVC) used an 18-2 run over a seven-minute span down the stretch to regain control after leading by as many as 10 points in the first half.
A pair of UIC sophomores — forward
Sasa Ciani (Nova Gorica, Slovenia/Koder School/Xavier) and guard
Ahmad Henderson II (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Niagara) — each scored 13 points, with Ciani grabbing seven rebounds and Henderson going a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line. Graduate student guard
Tyem Freeman (Springfield, Mo./Hillcrest/UCF/Kent State) completed a quartet of Flames in double figures with 11 points, while junior guard
Jordan Mason (San Antonio, Texas/Clark/Texas State) delivered a balanced line with eight points, six rebounds and a career-high nine assists (without a turnover) in 36 minutes.
The full box score and play-by-play recap from Saturday's win over Evansville can be found
here.
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COACH'S COMMENTS
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
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BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- At 16-12, UIC is poised to finish at or above .500 in a season for the first time since 2019-20, when the Flames went 18-17.
- UIC's nine conference wins are the most it has had in any conference since 2021-22 (9-10 in the Horizon League).
- UIC improves to 10-2 all-time against Evansville, including a 6-0 record in Chicago.
- Nine of the 12 series games between the Flames and Purple Aces have been decided by single digits, including seven of the past nine.
- Kancleris surpassed his previous season high of 13 points (three times, including the past two games) and finished just two points off his career high set on Nov. 22, 2022, vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when he was playing for Cal State Bakersfield.
- Kancleris has scored in double figures in the past four games and earned his career-high third double-double of the season (second in four games after 12 points/10 rebounds at Murray State on Feb. 11).
- Mason's nine assists topped his previous career high of eight against LeTourneau on Dec. 18, 2023, while he was attending Texas State.
- Henderson's 10-of-10 effort at the foul line was the best by a UIC player since Feb. 3, 2024 (11-11 by Isaiah Rivera against Southern Illinois, also at Credit Union 1 Arena).
- Junior guard Javon Jackson (Houston, Texas/C.E. King/Southern Nazarene/Utah State) picked up his 100th career steal on Saturday, while Mason's two thefts vs. Evansville give him 99 for his career.
UP NEXT
UIC makes its second visit to the state of Iowa in seven days when the Flames travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. (CT) contest against Northern Iowa. The game will be televised live from the McLeod Center on the MVC TV Network, which can be seen on Gray Media affiliates across the Valley footprint including The U Too (Channel 28.2) in Chicago. Due to scheduling conflicts, Wednesday's game will not air on the Flames Network.
UIC will then close out the regular season at home on Sunday, March 2, playing host to Valparaiso at 2 p.m. (CT) on Senior Day at Credit Union 1 Arena (the Flames' seniors will be recognized in a pregame ceremony). Fans can purchase their tickets online through Ticketmaster andÂ
UICFlames.com/Tickets, as well as through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312-413-UIC1) or by visiting the Credit Union 1 Arena box office on game day. Doors open an hour before first tip. The game will be televised live on ESPN+, while fans can tune into the free live radio broadcast anywhere in the world 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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