ST. LOUIS – In a year of firsts, UIC adds another to the list on Sunday, as the fifth-seeded Flames make their first-ever appearance in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament (Arch Madness) championship game, taking on No. 6 seed Northern Iowa at 11 a.m. (CT) inside the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. UIC is also playing in a conference tournament title game for the first time since 2020 (Horizon League) and is seeking its first conference tournament crown and NCAA Tournament berth since 2004 (also Horizon League).
Sunday's final will be televised live on CBS Sports and Paramount+, with
Kevin Harlan (play-by-play),
Robbie Hummel (color) and
Evan Washburn (sideline) on the call. Fans can also listen to Sunday's gae live and free of charge worldwide on the Flames Network at
UICFlames.com. The Voice of the Flames,
Jonathan Hood, is in his 14th season calling Flames basketball, joined by UIC Hall of Famer and legend
Kenny Williams on color commentary.
Tickets for Sunday's Arch Madness title game can be purchased at the Enterprise Center box office or online via Ticketmaster.
GAME #34
2026 State Farm MVC Tournament/Arch Madness - Championship
No. 6 seed Northern Iowa "Panthers" (22-12, 11-9 MVC) vs. No. 5 seed UIC "Flames" (19-14, 12-8 MVC)
When: Sunday, March 8th | 11 a.m. CT
Where: St. Louis, Mo. | Â
Enterprise Center
TV: CBS Sports/Paramount+Â (Kevin Harlan, p-b-p/Robbie Hummel, 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
- UIC and Northern Iowa will be meeting for the 30th time in series history, with the Panthers holding a 16-13 edge over the Flames.
- Of the seven series games played between the two sides since UIC joined the Valley in 2022-23, UNI has won five of those encounters.
- The teams split their two matchups this year, each winning on the other's home court (UNI 60-54 on Dec. 17 in Chicago; UIC 69-61 on Jan. 13 in Cedar Falls). The latter was UIC's first road win in the series since 2008.
- Sunday will mark the third time the Flames and Panthers have met in postseason play, with all three coming in conference tournament situations.
- In 1989, UIC defeated UNI, 90-69 in the quarterfinals of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU; now the Summit League) Tournament in Springfield, Mo.
- A year later, the AMCU rebranded as the Mid-Continent Conference and the host Panthers edged UIC in triple overtime, 99-94, also in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
MORE ON NORTHERN IOWA
- Paced by a veteran roster, Northern Iowa has seen its season mirror a three-act play with two extended runs of success, bookending a brief lull in the middle due to injuries.
- The Panthers, who have been in and out of the College Insider Mid-Major poll all year (currently receiving votes), opened 12-3 and have won 10 of their last 14, with their lone dry spell in mid-January when they lost five in a row.
- UNI has won four straight (three at Arch Madness), most recently a 73-69 win over Bradley in Saturday's semifinals.
- Trey Campbell ranks among the top 10 in the MVC in scoring (13.4 ppg.), assists (3.9 apg.), assist/turnover ratio (1.90) and steals (1.65 spg.). Backcourt mate Leon Bond III is in the top 20 in the Valley in scoring (11.9 ppg.) and rebounding (4.9 rpg.).
- As a team, UNI leads the nation in scoring defense (61.0 ppg.) and is third in three-point defense (.284).
- Head coach Ben Jacobson is in his 20th season at UNI with a 396-258 record, including a 6-4 mark against UIC.
NOTING THE FLAMES
- UIC booked its place in Sunday's Arch Madness championship game with a 72-51 semifinal victory over No. 9 seed Drake on Saturday. It marks the first time the Flames have won multiple games at the MVC Tournament since joining the conference in 2022-23.
- With Saturday's win, the Flames have reached their first conference tournament championship game since the 2020 Horizon League Tournament, when they made the title game before falling to Northern Kentucky, 71-62 in Indianapolis.
- UIC's last conference tournament title came in 2004, when, led by late head coach Jimmy Collins, it posted a 65-62 victory at Milwaukee to win the Horizon League crown and earn the most recent of the program's three NCAA Tournament berths (also 1998 and 2002).
- UIC is now 3-3 all-time in the MVC Tournament, and even its only Arch Madness win prior to this year was a notable one. In 2024, UIC became the first No. 11 seed to win an Arch Madness game, defeating Southern Illinois, 84-82 in double overtime in the first round.
- At No. 5, the Flames 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.
- 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 and 2020).
- UIC began its Division I era as a member of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU) and Mid-Continent Conference (now 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 19-14, UIC has posted its highest win total since 2017-18, when the Flames finished 20-16 and reached the CIT championship game. That was both UIC's most recent 20-win season and its only such campaign since it last won a conference tournament title and made the NCAA Tournament in 2004 (24-8 record).
- UIC went 12-8 in MVC play this year, 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 Saturday evening, UIC is ranked No. 104 by KenPom, No. 104 by Torvik and No. 113 in the NCAA NET rankings (the latter will be updated until Sunday morning).
- 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 14-4 in games in which he has played at least two minutes (11-2 when he starts), including season sweeps of MVC runner-up Bradley and fellow third-place finisher Illinois State, a three-game sweep of Drake, and Friday's quarterfinal win over the other third-place finisher, Murray State.
- The Flames' current 14-4 stretch is its best 18-game run at any point in any season since Dec. 15, 2017-Feb. 19, 2018, when UIC posted a similar string of 14 wins in 18 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 that 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 (15) of the Flames' 31 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.
- With its Feb. 24 win 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 beat 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 22 of 33 games overall (17-5 record in those contests).
- 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 10th-most unique game-high scorers in the nation this year (nine schools have nine, while UIC is one of seven schools that 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 25 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 22 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
Sunday's winner will earn the MVC's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, with the announcement of the 68-team field scheduled for 5 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, March 15 live on CBS Sports and Paramount+.
Â
