UIC hosts Northern Iowa after McDermott's 27-point showing

Northern Iowa Panthers (15-14, 10-8 MVC) at UIC Flames (12-15, 9-9 MVC)

Chicago; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Northern Iowa faces UIC after Maya McDermott scored 27 points in Northern Iowa's 80-79 loss to the Drake Bulldogs.

The Flames have gone 8-5 in home games. UIC is sixth in the MVC with 9.6 offensive rebounds per game led by Jaida McCloud averaging 2.0.

The Panthers are 10-8 in MVC play. Northern Iowa has a 6-14 record against teams above .500.

UIC scores 66.8 points per game, 1.9 fewer points than the 68.7 Northern Iowa allows. Northern Iowa has shot at a 44.9% rate from the field this season, 1.4 percentage points greater than the 43.5% shooting opponents of UIC have averaged.

The Flames and Panthers meet Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Makiyah Williams is shooting 41.7% and averaging 10.1 points for the Flames. Ky Dempsey-Toney is averaging 11.7 points over the last 10 games.

McDermott is averaging 19.2 points and 4.6 assists for the Panthers. Emerson Green is averaging 11.7 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Flames: 6-4, averaging 66.2 points, 32.6 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 7.9 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.1 points per game.

Panthers: 5-5, averaging 72.2 points, 31.3 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 9.7 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.