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UIC Athletics

thevalley
Ozzie Stern
73
Valparaiso VALPO 13-18,6-14 MVC
77
Winner UIC UIC 17-13,10-10 MVC
Valparaiso VALPO
13-18,6-14 MVC
73
Final
77
UIC UIC
17-13,10-10 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Valparaiso VALPO 32 41 73
UIC UIC 39 38 77

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Basketball Delivers On Senior Day, Downing Valparaiso, 77-73

Flames and Beacons likely to meet again Thursday in first round of MVC Tournament (Arch Madness) in St. Louis.

CHICAGO (March 2, 2025) — Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Niagara) scored a team-high 17 points, while graduate student guard Tyem Freeman (Springfield, Mo./Hillcrest/UCF/Kent State) had 16 points and a clutch block with 10 seconds left to help UIC (17-13, 10-10 MVC) close out the regular season with a 77-73 Missouri Valley Conference win over Valparaiso on Sunday afternoon at Credit Union 1 Arena. With the victory, the Flames finish fifth in the MVC regular-season standings after being picked 12th in the conference's preseason poll and have posted their highest overall and conference win totals since the 2019-20 season.

The five-man UIC senior class that was recognized in a pregame ceremony — Freeman, guard Koby Jeffries (Olive Branch, Miss./The Skill Factory/UAB/UT Martin), forward Modestas Kancleris (Kaunas, Lithuania/Varpas Gimnazija/Creighton/Cal State Bakersfield), guard Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/NW Mississippi CC/Triton) and forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) — accounted for 43 points in Sunday's win, none bigger than Skobalj's two free throws on both ends of a 1-and-1 with five seconds left to ice the victory. Skobalj finished with 10 points, while Kancleris and sophomore forward Sasa Ciani (Nova Gorica, Slovenia/Koder School/Xavier) both registered double-doubles — Kancleris with 11 points and a career high-tying 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season (third in the past six games), while Ciani had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his MVC-leading eighth double-double of the year.

The full box score and play-by-play recap from Sunday's win over Valparaiso can be found here.


COACH'S COMMENTS


SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
  • At 17-13, UIC has its highest win total since 2019-20 (finished 18-17) and highest regular season win total since the 2017-18 campaign (17-14 heading into the Horizon League Tournament — finished 20-16 counting a trip to the College Insider Tournament championship game).
  • It's also the Flames' best regular-season winning percentage (.567) since the program's last NCAA Tournament appearance and conference tournament title run in 2003-04, when UIC ended the regular season with a .759 winning percentage (22-7) before winning the Horizon League Tournament to punch its ticket to the Big Dance.
  • At 10-10, UIC earned its first .500 or better conference record and its most wins in conference play since the 2019-20 season, when the Flames went 10-8 in the Horizon League. UIC had a combined eight conference wins in its first two seasons as a member of the Valley.
  • The Flames' fifth-place MVC finish is its best in conference play since that same '19-20 campaign, when UIC tied for fourth in the Horizon League.  
  • UIC improves to 35-28 all-time against Valparaiso and has won six of the past eight matchups (the past seven series games have all been decided by 10 points or fewer). The Flames are also 22-9 all-time against the Beacons in Chicago.
  • UIC posts its first win on Senior Day since the 2021-22 season (71-58 over Milwaukee on Feb. 26, 2022, at Credit Union 1 Arena).
  • The Flames had at least four players score in double figures for the 17th time this season.
  • Exactly half (15) of UIC's 30 games this season have been decided by single digits, including 12 of 20 MVC games. The Flames are 9-6 in games decided by single digits, including a 7-5 mark against Valley opponents.
  • Down the stretch, 18 of UIC's last 22 games have been decided by 12 points or fewer.
  • The Flames shot better than 45 percent from the field for the 18th time this season. 
  • UIC had two players finish with double-doubles for the second time this year and first since a one-point loss at home to Bradley on Jan. 11 (when Henderson had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Ciani gathered 11 points and 11 rebounds).
  • The Flames dished out 20 assists in a game for the fifth time this year and first since Feb. 1 against Indiana State at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • Kancleris' 13 rebounds tied his career high for the fourth time and third this season (Dec. 8 in overtime win at home vs. Dartmouth; Dec. 15 in OT win at Little Rock).
  • Kancleris also had three blocks, the seventh time this year he has posted three or more blocks in a game.
  • Skobalj made the 100th start of his UIC career and has more college starts than any active player on the Flames' roster.


UP NEXT
UIC finished tied for fifth place in the MVC standings with Illinois State at 10-10 and the teams split their two regular-season meetings, so the tiebreaker will be determined by Monday morning's NCAA NET rankings (the Redbirds came into the game 18 spots ahead of the Flames). Should that margin hold, UIC would be the No. 6 seed for the State Farm MVC Tournament (Arch Madness) and would face 11th-seeded Valparaiso in a first-round game at 8:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The game will be televised live on the MVC TV Network (clearances listed below), while fans can tune into the free live radio broadcast anywhere in the world on the Flames Network at UICFlames.com.

MVC TV Network (8:30 p.m. CT Thursday) — Cedar Rapids, Iowa (KCRG 9.2 / MyNet); Ottumwa, Iowa (KYOU 15.3 / THE365); Rockford, Ill. (WIFR 23.2 / Antenna TV); Peoria, Ill. (WHOI 19.4 / CHSN); South Bend, Ind. (WNDU 16.3 / Antenna TV); Fort Wayne, Ind. (WPTA 21.3 / My Net); Louisville, Ky. (WAVE 3.3 / THE365); St. Louis (KMOV 32.1 / Matrix Midwest); Kansas City (KCTV/KSMO 62.1 / MyNet); Nashville (WSMV 4.2 / TVSN); Memphis (WMC 5.3 / WMC+); Knoxville, Tenn. (WVLT 8.2 / MyNet); Davenport, Iowa (KWQC 6.3 / Cozi); Sioux City, Iowa (KTIV 4.2 / CW+); Quincy, Ill. (WGEM 10.2 / CW+); Evansville, Ind. (WFIE 14.2 / MeTV); Paducah, Ky. / Cape Girardeau, Mo. (KFVS 12.2 / CW); Lexington, Ky. (WKYT 27.2 / CW); Bowling Green, Ky. (WBGS 34.3 / HEROES AND ICONS); Springfield, Mo. (KSPR 33.3 / MeTV); Des Moines, Iowa (KCCI 8.2 / Hearst); Chicago (WJYS 62.3 / CHSN Plus); Chicago (RCN-Astound 371 / CHSN Plus); Marseilles, Ill. (MTCO Communications 563 / CHSN Plus); ESPN+


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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