• UIC Men's Basketball Alumni Day
• Coaches vs. Cancer
• UIC students also encouraged to ride a free shuttle to the game. Free game shuttles will pick up at all East Campus dorms and outside Student Center East starting one hour before tipoff.

• UIC and Illinois State will tangle for the 33rd time in their series history on Sunday afternoon. The Redbirds maintain a 20-12 edge all-time against the Flames, with the series all square at 7-7 when the two sides meet in Chicago.
• This will be the eighth time UIC and Illinois State have met since the Flames joined the MVC in 2022-23, with UIC holding a 4-3 edge over the Redbirds under the Valley banner.
• This is another of UIC's series that has been closely played, as 22 of the prior 32 games with Illinois State have been decided by 10 points or fewer — including the past eight (and all seven since UIC entered the MVC four years ago).
• In an unusual series twist, the visiting team has won the past five matchups, including UIC's 63-59 victory in overtime back on Jan. 10 in Normal (the Flames' third consecutive victory at CEFCU Arena).
• The last home team in the series to successfully defend its home court was ISU on Feb. 1, 2023 (a 68-62 OT win), while UIC's last victory over the Redbirds in Chicago was on Dec. 28, 2022 — a 55-51 verdict that served as the Flames' first-ever MVC win.

• Illinois State will be the third UIC opponent in four games and 13th this season to be either ranked or receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll at tipoff (the Redbirds are currently receiving votes).
• ISU opened the season with wins in 12 of its first 15 games and rose into the top 10 of the College Insider poll.
• During the past month, the Redbirds have largely alternated wins and losses, most recently posting an 86-64 home victory over Valparaiso on Thursday night.
• Chase Walker in among the top 10 in the MVC in scoring (13.7 ppg.), rebounding (5.4 rpg.) and field-goal percentage (.528). Johnny Kinziger is among the conference's top 10 in assists (3.0 apg.) and steals (1.3 spg.) and is coming off a game-high 21-point outing against Valpo on Thursday. Boden Skunberg adds an MVC-best .429 three-point percentage is among the top 10 with 1.8 treys/game.
• Ryan Pedon is in his fourth season at Illinois State with a 65-61 record. He is 3-4 all-time against UIC.

• UIC returned to the win column Thursday with an 80-70 victory at Drake, the Flames' first triumph in Des Moines since 1978. With the win, UIC completed a sweep of the MVC's challenging Iowa road swing (UNI, Drake) for the first time since joining the conference four years ago — the Flames posted a 69-61 victory at UNI back on Jan. 13.
• Thursday's win also was No. 650 in UIC's 45 seasons as a Division I program (1981-82 to present).
• The Flames welcomed one of their largest crowds in the past decade for the Feb. 6 Belmont game, with 3,599 fans (including 1,400 UIC students) coming through the turnstiles at Credit Union 1 Arena.
• UIC's eight-game winning streak earlier this season (all against MVC opponents) was its longest since Nov. 17-Dec. 15, 2012, a run that included one non-Division I victory. It was also the Flames' longest conference (and entirely Division I) winning streak since Jan. 24-Feb. 28, 2004, when UIC won its final 10 Horizon League games of the season — it then won both conference tournament games, capped by a 65-62 victory at Milwaukee in the Horizon League final to earn UIC's most recent NCAA Tournament berth.
• Sophomore guard Elijah Crawford's steal and layup with 1.8 seconds left on Jan. 27 against Indiana State marked the Flames' first buzzer-beating win since Jan. 21, 2021, when Michael Diggins' tip-in gave UIC a 67-66 road win at Youngstown State.
• Eight different UIC players have led the team in scoring at least once, tying for the fourth-most unique game-high scorers in the nation this year (George Washington, Tarleton State and VCU have nine, while UIC is one of nine schools who have eight).
• 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 (20 games) and freshman guard Andy Johnson (15). 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 15 games, starting three freshmen in guards Andy Johnson and Rashund Washington Jr., along with redshirt forward Jayce Nathaniel in 13 of those games. The Flames are one of four schools in the nation (Arizona, Fairfield, UT Martin) to have three freshmen start at least 13 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 (12) of the Flames' 24 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).
• UIC is in the midst of a run of three of four games against teams ranked or receiving votes in the College Insider poll (Feb. 3 at No. 14 Murray State; Feb. 6 vs. No. 4 Belmont; Sunday vs. Illinois State, which is receiving votes).
• With last month's wins at No. 7 Illinois State and No. 10 UNI, UIC has five victories over ranked mid-major squads (four vs. 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 10 of their 12 losses by 10 points or fewer and/or in OT, including all six MVC losses to date (average of 5.5 ppg. vs. Belmont (2x), UNI, Murray State (2x) and Valparaiso).
• UIC has led at halftime in 11 of its 15 conference games this year and has been tied or up at the break in 17 of 26 games overall.
• Six of UIC's close losses have come against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major poll (OSU, HPU, BEL-2x, UNI, MSU-2x), 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 clean looks each time, the shots did not fall.
• 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 and Indiana Junior All-Star pick last year at Crown Point High School, posting 16.2 ppg., 6.7 rpg. and 3.4 apg., while helping the Bulldogs go 24-2 and make the Indiana Class 4A semistate final. He also had 12.9 ppg. and 5.9 rpg. in the summer 2025 club season with Indiana Elite 3SSB (3Stripes Select Basketball).
• Earlier this year, head coach Rob Ehsan was selected as a "Chicagoan You Should Know" by Ankin Law, one of the premier firms in the Chicagoland area.

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