• Wednesday will mark the 14th all-time meeting between UIC and Evansville, with the Flames holding an 11-2 edge in the series. UIC is also 4-2 all-time when facing the Purple Aces in Evansville, and 6-1 against UE since the Flames joined the MVC in 2022-23.
• The Flames have won the past four games in the series with UE, most recently earning a 76-49 victory on Jan. 20 at Credit Union 1 Arena.
• The last time UIC and Evansville met at the Ford Center on Jan. 22, 2025, the Flames came away with a 78-67 victory.
• Nine of the previous 13 matchups between the Flames and Purple Aces have been decided by single digits, including four of the seven prior encounters in Valley play.

• Evansville has been challenged by the injury bug perhaps more than any other squad in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.
• The Purple Aces got off to a solid start this season, winning four of their first nine games, including a neutral-site win over an Oregon State team that had edged UIC in the opening week of the season.
• Since then, UE has lost 12 of 14, but did defeat Illinois State (88-80) on Feb. 9 before an 86-60 loss at Southern Illinois in their most recent outing on Feb. 12 (the Purple Aces are coming off a bye this past weekend).
• AJ Casey has taken over the team lead in scoring (11.9 ppg.), while Connor Turnbull is second (11.5 ppg.) and adds team highs of 6.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. Leif Moeller is up to 10.5 points and 3.9 assists per game with a team-high .370 three-point percentage.
• Head coach David Ragland is in his fourth season at Evansville with a 39-86 career record. He is 1-6 against UIC. 

• UIC captured its second consecutive win and 10th in its last 12 games on Sunday with an 83-56 victory over Illinois State at Credit Union 1 Arena. It was the Flames' largest-ever win against ISU and marked UIC's first regular-season sweep of the Redbirds since joining the MVC in 2022-23.
• Redshirt junior forward Ante Beljan turned in one of his best days in a Flames' uniform on Sunday, coming off the bench to score a game-high 16 points in 16 minutes, making 8-of-11 shots from the floor.
• 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 10 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 16 games, starting three freshmen in guards Andy Johnson and Rashund Washington Jr., along with redshirt forward Jayce Nathaniel in 13 of those games (and all three averaging more than 20 minutes per night). 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. More than half (13) of the Flames' 25 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 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 12 of its 16 conference games this year and has been tied or up at the break in 18 of its 27 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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