• Saturday will mark the 16th all-time meeting between UIC and Bradley, with the Braves holding a 12-3 edge in the series, including a 7-1 margin in Peoria.
• Last year, the two schools split a pair of meetings, each winning on the other's home floor.
• In the first encounter on Jan. 11, 2025, in Chicago, UIC led for nearly the final 35 minutes and by as many as 13 points, but Bradley rallied and hit a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left to pull out a 61-60 decision.
• In the rematch on Jan. 29, 2025, in Peoria, the Flames closed the first half on a 41-14 run and never looked back en route to their first-ever road win over the Braves, 93-70. It was also UIC's first victory over Bradley in seven opportunities since joining the MVC in 2022-23.
• To date, nine of the 15 matchups in the series have been decided by 10 points or fewer.

• Bradley brings back six letterwinners (one starter) from last year's squad that won 28 games and finished second in both the MVC regular-season race and at the MVC Tournament en route to its third straight NIT appearance.
• The Braves also have nine newcomers this year, who earned their stripes during a challenging non-conference slate earlier this year.
• Bradley has won 11 of its last 14, most recently winning 75-68 over Indiana State at home on Wednesday.
• Jaquan Johnson ranks second in the Valley in scoring (17.5 ppg.) while leading the conference in steals (3.2 spg.), placing third in assist/turnover ratio (3.00) and ranking sixth in assists (3.4 apg.).
• As a team, Bradley leads the MVC in steals (8.9) and turnover margin (+5.71).
• Head coach Brian Wardle in his 11th season at Bradley with a 200-154 record (295-219 in 16 years overall). He is 17-4 all-time against UIC, including a prior stop at Green Bay.

• UIC extended its winning streak to a season-best five games on Tuesday with a 76-49 victory at home over Evansville. The Flames held the Purple Aces to opponent season lows for points in a game and a half (20 in the 1st) while grabbing 15 steals, their highest total against a Division I opponent since Dec. 22, 2007 (Credit Union 1 Arena-record 25 vs. Howard).
• UIC's current five-game winning streak (all against MVC opponents) is its longest in conference play since joining the Valley in 2022-23 and longest in any conference setting since Jan. 18-Feb. 8, 2018, when the Flames won seven in a row while competing under the Horizon League banner.
• Sophomore guard Elijah Crawford continues to shine in his return since missing almost all of the first two months of the season with a lower leg injury. In his last five games, Crawford is averaging 11.4 points and 5.6 assists per contest, including a career-high 16 points on Tuesday against Evansville and career-best nine assists in the Jan. 13 win at UNI.
• Graduate student forward Abdul Momoh scored a career-high 21 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting in UIC's Jan. 13 win at UNI. It was the best shooting night by a UIC player since at least the 2000-01 season, with further research ongoing. In his last eight games, Momoh is averaging 12.5 points per game with a .732 field-goal percentage (41-of-56).
• Eight different UIC players have led the team in scoring at least once, tying for the second-most unique game-high scorers of any team in the nation this season (VCU has nine, while Creighton, Illinois, Kentucky, Northeastern and Saint Louis also have eight). Most recently, sophomore guard Elijah Crawford had a team-high 16 points in Tuesday's win over Evansville.
• Of the 12 players on UIC's roster who have seen playing time this year, 10 have scored in double figures at least once this season, led by junior guard Ahmad Henderson II (16 games) and freshman guard Andy Johnson (12). The 10 different double-digit scorers ties for second-most in the MVC behind Illinois State (11).
• UIC has gone very young with its lineup during the past nine games, starting three freshmen in guards Andy Johnson and Rashund Washington Jr., along with redshirt forward Jayce Nathaniel. The Flames are one of only four schools in the nation (along with Arizona, Fairfield and UT Martin) to have three freshmen start at least eight times this year, with only one other school (New Mexico) having fielded a three-freshman lineup even once this year.
• To say UIC's schedule has been challenging this year is putting it mildly. Half (9) of the Flames' 18 Division I opponents have been ranked or receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll at tipoff, including a stretch of three in a row from Dec. 7-17 (No. 3 Yale, No. 5 Belmont, No. 10 UNI).
• With its recent road victories at No. 7 Illinois State and No. 10 UNI, UIC has five wins over ranked mid-major squads (and four against top-10 programs) in head coach Rob Ehsan's two seasons. Last year, the Flames defeated No. 1 Drake, No. 4 Bradley and No. 13 Yale.
• The Flames have come oh-so-close to victory on several occasions this year, with eight losses by 10 points or fewer and/or in overtime, including four MVC games to date (average of 5.0 ppg. in losses to Belmont, UNI, Murray State and Valparaiso).
• UIC has led at halftime in eight of its nine conference games this season (the lone exception on Jan. 13 at UNI by a 32-29 margin).
• Five of UIC's close losses have come against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major poll (OSU, HPU, BEL, UNI, MSU), and four close losses have come by three points or fewer and/or in overtime (OSU, UAPB, BEL, CHA). 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.
• Since trailing 16-6 with 9:56 left in the first half on Dec. 17 vs. UNI, UIC has either led or trailed by just single digits for nearly the full 599+ minutes of game time in that span (all but the final 53 seconds of OT at Charlotte on Dec. 21). In this current stretch of 9 1/2 games, the Flames have led for 268:07 and only trailed for 91:10.
• UIC men's basketball has been hitting the books at a record-setting level this year. The Flames posted a 3.26 team GPA during the Fall 2025 semester, the program's highest semester GPA since at least 2010-11.
• 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).
   

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