THE SERIES BREAKDOWN

• Separated by less than 60 miles, UIC and Valparaiso are no strangers to one another, with Thursday's game marking the 64th meeting between the Flames and Beacons.

• UIC holds a 35-28 series edge over Valparaiso and has won six of the past eight matchups. The past seven series games between UIC and Valparaiso have all been decided by 10 points or fewer.

• UIC won both regular-season meetings this year, prevailing 81-74 at Valparaiso on Jan. 18 and 77-73 in Chicago on Sunday.

• This will be the fifth time UIC and Valparaiso have met in a conference tournament setting, with the Flames going 3-1 in those games. The Beacons won the most recent matchup, 73-63 at Valparaiso in the first round of the 2014 Horizon League Tournament.

• Once before, UIC and Valparaiso played back-to-back in a regular-season finale and a conference tournament. In 1987, the Flames won the March 2 finale in Chicago, 75-64 and their rematch with the Beacons three days later, 95-74 in the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU) Tournament semifinals.

• UIC and Valparaiso have shared membership in three conferences for portions of the past 43 years, first in the Association of Mid-Continent Universities/Mid-Continent Conference (now known as the Summit League) from 1981-82 to 1993-94, and in the Horizon League from 2007-08 through 2016-17 (prior to their current MVC affiliation). In that four-decade span, the schools have met 59 times in conference or postseason tournament play, with UIC owning a 33-26 advantage against Valparaiso in those games.

GAME #30 RECAP - VALPARAISO

• Sophomore guard Ahmad Henderson II scored 17 points, while graduate student guard Tyem Freeman had 16 points and a clutch block with 10 seconds left to help UIC close out the regular season with a 77-73 win over Valparaiso on Sunday at Credit Union 1 Arena.

• The five-man UIC senior class accounted for 43 points in Sunday's win, none bigger than Filip Škobalj's two free throws with five seconds left to ice the victory. Škobalj finished with 10 points, while Kancleris and sophomore forward Saša Ciani 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.

NOTING THE VALPARAISO GAME

• 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).

• 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 vs. Dartmouth; Dec. 15 at Little Rock - both were overtime wins).

• Kancleris also had three blocks, the seventh time this year he has posted three or more blocks in a game.

• Škobalj made the 100th start of his UIC career and has more college starts than any active player on the Flames' roster.

TOURNAMENT TIDBITS

• UIC is playing in its third MVC Tournament. At No. 6, the Flames have earned their highest Arch Madness seed in three seasons in the Valley (No. 11 the past two years) and highest in any conference tournament since the 2020 Horizon League Tournament, when they reached the title game as a No. 4 seed before falling to Northern Kentucky, 71-62 in Indianapolis.

• Last year, UIC became the first No. 11 seed ever to win an Arch Madness game, defeating Southern Illinois, 84-82 in double overtime in the first round.

• From 1994-95 through 2021-22, UIC was a member of the Horizon League (formerly the Midwestern Collegiate Conference), posting a 24-26 record in Horizon League Tournament play and winning two titles (2002 and 2004) while finishing as the runner-up on two other occasions (1997; earned NCAA Tournament at-large berth, and 2020).

• UIC began its Division I era as a member of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU) and Mid-Continent Conference (now known as the Summit League) from 1982-83 through 1993-94. In that time, the Flames went 11-10 in the AMCU/Mid-Con Tournament when it was played (there was no event in 1983 or 1988), advancing to the championship game four times (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994).

POTENT NOTABLES

• At 17-13, UIC has its highest win total since 2019-20 (finished 18-17 in COVID-shortened season) 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 was also the Flames' best regular-season winning percentage (.567) since the program's last NCAA Tournament appearance 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.  

• Entering this week's action, UIC has an average opponent NET ranking of 111, which is second-highest in the Valley.

• UIC is 7-6 on the road this year, including a 5-5 road mark in MVC play, with both win totals ranking fourth in the conference.

• The Flames are 2-0 against schools earning votes in the Associated Press poll with victories over Drake on Jan. 1 and at Bradley on Jan. 29. UIC is the only MVC school with wins over both Drake and Bradley this season.

• UIC is 3-4 against teams ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll (wins over No. 13 Yale on Nov. 18, No. 1 Drake on Jan. 1 and at No. 4 Bradley on Jan. 29). This week, all three of those teams are in the top 10 in the Mid-Major Top 25 (Drake-3; Yale-5; Bradley-9).

• The Flames are 4-2 against current Quad 2 opponents this season (4-4 combined vs. Q1/Q2), winning on Nov. 13 vs. Yale, Dec. 29 at Illinois State, Jan. 1 vs. Drake and Jan. 29 at Bradley.

• UIC nearly claimed a Quad 1 win at Northwestern on Nov. 12 (trailed 74-70 with 1:20 left; lost 83-74).

• With its Nov. 22 win over La Salle at the Boardwalk Battle, UIC collected its third victory over an Atlantic 10 Conference opponent in the past two seasons, following up on last year's wins over Loyola and George Washington.

• UIC has knocked down at least 10 three-pointers in 11 games this year, including a season-high 14 at Bradley on Jan. 29.

• The Flames have scored at least 80 points 13 times this season and topped the 90-point mark on six occasions.

• UIC has shot 45 percent or better in 18 games this year, and over 50 percent 10 times (season-high 60.0 percent on Nov. 16 against Saint Mary's-Minn.).

BALANCE IS KEY

• UIC has four players posting double-figure scoring averages this season — Javon Jackson (11.8 ppg.), Ahmad Henderson II (11.7), Tyem Freeman (10.6) and Saša Ciani (10.0) — with three others logging over eight points per game in Jordan Mason (9.9), Filip Škobalj (8.5 ppg.) and Modestas Kancleris (8.3 ppg.). 

• The Flames have seen eight different players lead the team in scoring at least once this season.

• UIC has had at least four double-digit scorers in 17 games this season. The Flames had a season-high six in their Dec. 20 road win at Seattle U., the  most for UIC in a single game since March 2018.

HEART STOPPERS

• 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, with a 7-5 mark in MVC play.

• No less than 18 of UIC's last 22 games have been decided by 12 points or fewer.

• Five of UIC's last nine losses have been by five points or fewer, and in each case, the Flames had a possession to tie or retake the lead inside the final 2:00.

• UIC is 3-0 in overtime games this year, the second-most OT wins in a season in program history (five in 2005-06).

• The Flames have won their last four overtime games, dating back to last year's MVC Tournament (84-82 double-overtime win over Southern Illinois in the first round), with the 2005-06 season the last time UIC won four or more consecutive OT contests.

UP NEXT: MVC QUARTERFINALS

• With a victory on Thursday, UIC would advance to the MVC Tournament quarterfinals for the second consecutive year and earn a matchup with No. 3 seed Northern Iowa at 8:30 p.m. (CT) Friday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

• Friday's Arch Madness quarterfinal will air live on the MVC TV Network and ESPN+, and will also be broadcast globally on the Flames Network at UICFlames.com.

• UIC is 12-15 all-time against Northern Iowa after the Panthers won both regular-season matchups this year. Should they meet Friday, it would be the first conference tournament game between the Flames and Panthers since March 5, 1990, when UNI prevailed, 99-94 in triple overtime in the Mid-Continent Conference (now known as the Summit League) Tournament quarterfinals.