Scouting: UIC @ Loyola, Ball St. @ NIU

UIC (6-18, 2-12) at Loyola (13-11, 4-10)When: 7 p.m. at Gentile CenterTV: Channel 56Radio: WAUR 930-AM, WNTD 950-AM, WLUW 88.7-FMThe skinny: There's not much more than pride on the line in this one. The Ramblers have an outside shot at hosting an opening-round Horizon League tournament contest, but they need to sweep the last four regular-season games. Loyola topped UIC 55-50 on Jan. 15 as junior guard Geoff McCammon was the only hot player on the floor. He poured in a career-high 26 points, which included 6-for-7 shooting on 3-pointers. Loyola did a solid job of holding down UIC senior forward Jeremy Buttell in the first meeting, but he's gone crazy lately. In league games, Buttell ranks 11th in scoring (13.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (8.3 rpg). Loyola forward Andy Polka is the Horizon's top rebounder in all games (8.6 rpg) but fourth in league play. UIC senior Spencer Stewart owns the Horizon's all-games lead in assists (4.9 apg).Ball St. (12-11, 6-5) at Northern Illinois (8-15, 4-7)When: 3 p.m. at Convocation CenterVideo: NIUHuskies.comRadio: WSCR 670-AMThe skinny: The Huskies got off to a great MAC start with a 62-48 opening victory at Ball State, but now they're dealing with a seven-game losing streak. While NIU has gone from first to fifth in the MAC West, Ball State reeled off a four-game winning streak against MAC East teams to pull into a share of first in the West. Sophomore big man Jarrod Jones (12.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg) leads the Cardinals while NIU leader Xavier Silas has struggled lately. He's averaging 11.3 points and shooting 24 percent over the last four games.