• UIC and Murray State will be meeting for the 10th time in their series history, with the Racers holding a 7-2 advantage in the series. This will mark the schools' first-ever postseason (and neutral-site) matchup.
• Murray State has won the past three games in the series, including both contests this season which were decided by a combined 11 points (81-77 on Jan. 1 in Chicago; 81-74 on Feb. 3 in Murray).
• This year's margins continue a series trend that has seen six of the first nine games between the Flames and Racers decided by 10 points or fewer, including each of the past four.
• UIC is seeking its first win over Murray State since Jan. 15, 2025, when it posted a 97-93 double-overtime victory over the Racers at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago.

• With a revamped lineup and a new coaching staff, Murray State finished tied with UIC (and Illinois State) for third in the MVC standings this season, with all three schools posting 12-8 records in conference play.
• The Racers have been in and out of the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll all season, currently receiving votes in that balloting.
• Like UIC, Murray State comes into Friday's game having lost its regular-season finale, 87-78 at Bradley on Sunday.
• Second-team All-MVC pick Javon Jackson is third in the Valley in scoring (16.0 ppg.), while MVC Newcomer of the Year Fred King is tops in rebounding (8.4 rpg.) and blocks (2.0 bpg.), as well as second in field-goal percentage (.643). MVC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man Award recipient Roman Doman adds 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
• Ryan Miller is in his first season as head coach at Murray State with a 20-11 record (2-0 against UIC).

• UIC is playing in its fourth State Farm MVC Tournament since joining the conference in 2022-23. At No. 5, the Flames have earned their highest Arch Madness seed in four seasons in the Valley (No. 6 last year; No. 11 in 2023 and 2024) 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.
• UIC is 1-3 all-time in the MVC Tournament, with that victory a notable one. In 2024, 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).
• At 17-14, UIC has matched its highest win total since 2019-20 (17-14 last year; 18-17 in the '19-20 COVID-shortened season) and highest regular season win total in the past nine seasons (17-13 last year; 17-14 in 2017-18 prior to the Horizon League Tournament — finished 20-16 with a trip to the CIT championship game).
• UIC went 12-8 in MVC play, its highest conference win total since joining the Valley and tied for its second-highest in any conference (done four times before, most recently with a 12-6 record in the 2017-18 Horizon League campaign).
• After going 12-8 this year and 10-10 last year, UIC has posted its first back-to-back .500 or better conference seasons since the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, when the Flames went 10-8 each year in the Horizon League. Of note, UIC had a combined eight conference wins in its first two seasons as a member of the Valley and has 22 in its first two years under head coach Rob Ehsan.
• The Flames' third-place MVC finish is its best in conference play since the 2017-18 campaign, when UIC took third in the Horizon League with the aforementioned 12-6 record.
• As of Thursday morning, UIC is ranked No. 111 by KenPom, No. 115 by Torvik and No. 117 in the NCAA NET rankings.
• UIC had a trio of players earn MVC postseason honors this week. Sophomore guard Elijah Crawford was a dual honoree, being named to the All-MVC Second Team and MVC All-Newcomer Team, the first all-conference pick for the Flames since Jace Carter in 2022-23 (UIC's inaugural Valley season). Guard Andy Johnson was chosen for the MVC All-Freshman Team (UIC's first-ever selection for that Valley team) and graduate student guard Sam Silverstein earned a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team, the fourth year in a row a Flames' player has made that squad.
• Part of the reason for UIC's resurgence during the second half of the season has been the return of sophomore point guard Elijah Crawford, who was injured in the Nov. 3 season opener against Detroit Mercy and missed nearly all of the next two months (aside from 12 minutes against Southern Indiana on Nov. 22). Beginning with Crawford's return on Jan. 4 at Valparaiso, the Flames are 11-4 in games in which he has played at least two minutes (9-2 when he starts), including season sweeps of MVC runner-up Bradley and fellow third-place finisher Illinois State, as well as a UIC's first-ever road sweep of the Valley's Iowa schools (Drake and UNI).
• The Flames' current 12-4 stretch is its best 16-game run at any point in any season since Jan. 4-Feb. 25, 2018, when UIC posted a similar string of 12 wins in 16 games.
• 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.
• UIC's 84-46 win at Evansville on Feb. 18 was its largest margin of victory in a road game in 73 years, dating back to a 116-60 win at George Williams College on Feb. 13, 1953 (well before UIC's program elevated to NCAA Division I status in 1981-82).
• The Evansville win was UIC's largest conference victory, topping a 77-44 Horizon League win at Detroit Mercy on Jan. 18, 2003.
• To say UIC's schedule has been challenging this year is putting it mildly. Nearly half (14) of the Flames' 29 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 consecutive top-10 opponents from Dec. 7-17 (No. 3 Yale, No. 5 Belmont, No. 10 UNI). UIC is 5-9 this year in games against ranked mid-major opponents, having won five of its last seven.
• With its Feb. 24 over No. 24 Bradley, and January wins at No. 7 Illinois State and No. 10 UNI, UIC has six 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.
• UIC has come oh-so-close to victory on several occasions this year, with 11 of their 14 losses by 10 points or fewer and/or in OT, including seven of their eight MVC losses (average of 5.3 ppg. vs. Belmont (2x), UNI, Murray State (2x) and Valparaiso (2x)).
• UIC led at halftime in 14 of its 20 conference games this year and has been tied or up at the break in 20 of 31 games overall.
• UIC is 2-1 in overtime games this season and 5-1 when going an extra five minutes (or beyond) in head coach Rob Ehsan's first two seasons.
• 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.
• Eight different UIC players have led the team in scoring at least once, tying for the fifth-most unique game-high scorers in the nation this year (George Washington, Illinois State, 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 (career-high 23 games) and freshman guard Andy Johnson (17). 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 20 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.
• The Flames welcomed one of their largest home 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 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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