CHICAGO (March 4, 2025) – UIC redshirt senior forward Modestas Kancleris (Kaunas, Lithuania/Varpas Gimnazija/Creighton/Cal State Bakersfield) has been voted to the 2024-25 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball All-Bench Team, the conference announced Tuesday. Kancleris is the first UIC player to make the squad since the Flames joined the MVC three years ago.
 
In his first season at UIC, Kancleris (pronounced con-SLAIR-iss) is enjoying his finest collegiate campaign to date, averaging career highs across the board in all major categories, including scoring (8.3 ppg.), rebounding (6.8 rpg.), blocked shots (1.37 bpg.), field-goal percentage (.613) and double-doubles (4) while appearing in all 30 games and starting seven times. He has also posted career bests of 12 double-figure scoring games and seven double-digit rebounding games. Kancleris currently ranks third in the Valley in blocked shots, fourth in double-doubles, total rebounding and offensive rebounding, and seventh in defensive rebounding.
 
In conference play, he averaged 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game with a .632 field-goal percentage while playing in all 20 games, starting five times. He ranked third in the MVC in blocks and fifth in rebounding during the recently-completed Valley campaign.
 
Kancleris and his UIC teammates capped off the regular season with a 17-13 record (10-10 in the MVC), the program's best regular-season record since 2004, and finished tied for fifth in the final conference standings after being projected 12^th in the MVC preseason poll.
 
UIC will open postseason play at 8:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday against 11^th-seeded Valparaiso in the first round of the 2025 State Farm MVC Tournament ("Arch Madness") at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The game will be televised live on the MVC TV Network, which includes numerous Gray Media affiliates in the Valley footprint (notably the Chicago Sports Network/CHSN or CHSN Plus), as well as ESPN+. The radio broadcast of Thursday's first-round game will also be carried worldwide on the Flames Network through UICFlames.com, with additional radio coverage in the St. Louis metro area on KTRS-AM (550).
 
Fans wishing to purchase tickets for Thursday's evening session featuring UIC (or all-session tickets for the full MVC Tournament) should contact the UIC Athletics Ticket Office at (312) 413-8421 or via e-mail at athleticsticketing@uic.edu.
 
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).