ST. LOUIS – For the first time in its four seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference, UIC has advanced to the semifinals of Arch Madness (the MVC Tournament), as the fifth-seeded Flames square off with No. 9 seed Drake on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (CT) from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
Saturday's game will be televised nationwide on CBS Sports Network, with
Tom McCarthy (play-by-play),
Michael O'Donnell (color) and
Evan Washburn (sideline) on the call. Fans can also tune in to Saturday's semifinal live and free of charge worldwide on the Flames Network at UICFlames.com. The Voice of the Flames,
Jonathan Hood, is now in his 14th season calling the action alongside UIC Hall of Famer and legend
Kenny Williams.
All-session and single-session tickets for Arch Madness can be purchased at the Enterprise Center box office or online via Ticketmaster.
GAME #33
2026 State Farm MVC Tournament/Arch Madness - Semifinal
No. 9 seed Drake "Bulldogs" (14-19, 6-14 MVC) vs. No. 5 seed UIC "Flames" (18-14, 12-8 MVC)
When: Saturday, March 7th | 2:30 p.m. CT
Where: St. Louis, Mo. | Â
Enterprise Center
TV: CBS Sports Network (Tom McCarthy, p-b-p/Michael O'Donnell, color/Evan Washburn, sideline)
Radio:Â
Flames Network (Jonathan Hood, p-b-p/Kenny Williams, color)
Live Stats:Â
StatBroadcast
UIC Arch Madness Fan Central:Â
Click Here
Official Arch Madness Tournament Website:Â
Click Here
SERIES BREAKDOWN
- Saturday will mark the 17th meeting all-time between UIC and Drake, with the Bulldogs maintaining an 11-5 series lead over the Flames. This will be the first postseason and neutral-site contest between the schools.
- UIC has won three of the past four games in the series with Drake, including both regular-season matchups this year, the first time the Flames have won back-to-back series games against the Bulldogs.
- In the first meeting on Jan. 17 at Credit Union 1 Arena, UIC went nearly wire-to-wire for a 74-67 victory behind 21 points from Andy Johnson and 20 points from Ahmad Henderson II. The Flames led by as many as 15 points early in the second half before the Bulldogs rallied to within three at the final media timeout. That's when UIC iced the victory by making 12-of-16 foul shots.
- In the most recent encounter on Feb. 12 at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, UIC posted an 80-70 win, closing the game on a 19-5 run to earn their first road victory at Drake since 1978 (and second in series history). Elijah Crawford led four Flames in double figures with 18 points.Â
MORE ON DRAKE
- It's been a bit of a rollercoaster season for Drake, which won six of its first nine games and was two games over .500 near the end of January.
- The Bulldogs then battled through a nine-game losing streak that saw them endure five losses by 10 points or fewer.
- However, Drake has recovered well, winning its last two games, including a stunning 100-79 win over MVC champion and top-seeded Belmont in Friday's quarterfinals.
- Jalen Quinn leads the MVC in scoring (19.8 ppg.) while adding 4.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game with a .354 three-point percentage.
- Owen Larson (9.9 ppg.) leads three other players over nine points per game, Okku Federiko is tied for the team lead with 4.8 rebounds per game and Eli Shetler is shooting a team-best .402 from the three-point line.
- First-year head coach Eric Henderson is 14-19 at Drake and 143-79 overall on the sidelines (0-2 vs. UIC).
NOTING THE FLAMES
- UIC advanced to Saturday's Arch Madness semifinal with a 92-79 quarterfinal win over No. 4 seed Murray State on Friday. With the win, the Flames have reached their conference tournament semifinals for the first time since the 2020 Horizon League Tournament, when they made the title game as a No. 4 seed before falling to Northern Kentucky, 71-62 in Indianapolis.
- 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 No. 4 seed in the aforementioned 2020 Horizon League Tournament.
- UIC is now 2-3 all-time in the MVC Tournament, with the first win 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 18-14, UIC has matched its highest win total since 2019-20 (18-17 in a COVID-shortened season) and the Flames' 17-14 regular season win total tied its best 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 Friday evening, UIC is ranked No. 107 by KenPom, No. 109 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 13-4 in games in which he has played at least two minutes (10-2 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) and Friday's quarterfinal win over the other third-place finisher, Murray State.
- The Flames' current 13-4 stretch is its best 16-game run at any point in any season since Dec. 15, 2017-Feb. 19, 2018, when UIC posted a similar string of 13 wins in 17 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. Half (15) of the Flames' 30 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 6-9 this year in games against ranked mid-major opponents, having won six of its last eight.Â
- 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 21 of 32 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 24 games) and freshman guard Andy Johnson (18). 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 21 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.
UP NEXT: TBD (MVC TOURNAMENT/ARCH MADNESSÂ CHAMPIONSHIP GAME)
With a victory on Saturday, UIC will reach the MVC Tournament championship game at 11 a.m. (CT) Sunday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The Flames would face the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between second-seeded Bradley and No. 6 seed UNI. Sunday's title game will be televised live on CBS Sports.
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