Staff photo / John Vargo Members of the Youngstown State men’s basketball team, including Michael Akuchie, right, get in some shooting practice Sunday at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.

CHICAGO — The UIC Flames have one of the most athletic presences in the Horizon League.

Four seniors for this Chicago-based team, near the Little Italy portion of one of the United States’ biggest cities, have loomed large against most teams in the 10-team league.

These four definitely don’t look like they’ve had too many portions of pasta.

Marcus Ottey, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound guard, averages almost 14 points per game and scored 18 against UC-Irvine. Ottey missed the first 10 games of the season due to an injury.

Tarkus Ferguson, 6-4, 190, leads the Flames (6-8, 0-1 Horizon League) with an average of 14.4 points per game. He is one of two active players in NCAA Division I who has 1,300 points, 600 rebounds and 500 assists in his career.

Godwin Boehen, a 5-11 guard comes off the bench with an average of 11.3 points. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne, which is going to join the Horizon League in the 2020-21 season.

Jordan Blount, 6-8, 220-pound, forward came back in UIC’s game on Dec. 18 against Illinois State after missing the first 11 games of the season.

Then there’s sophomore starter Braden Bridges (6-10, 225). He’s had a double-double in two of the last four games.

Did we mention 6-8 junior guard/forward Michael Diggins who had a double-double against Bradley with 13 points and 11 rebounds? He also scored a career-high 25 points against Purdue Fort Wayne and blocked five shots against Robert Morris.

Needless to say it’s a tough task for YSU (8-6, 1-0) as it faces UIC tonight at 7 at the UIC Pavilion.

Before a Feb. 16 win at the Beeghly Center last season, the Penguins struggled to beat the Flames. UIC won the previous five meetings and owns a 30-13 all-time series record.

“For us to change the tides, what’s happened to us in Chicago, we’ve really, really got to defend at a high level,” said YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun, whose team holds opponents to less than 70 points per game. “We’ve got to keep guys in front. We’ve got to defend the 3. They make eight 3s a game.

“They’re a very explosive offensively. They’re a transition team. We’ve got to come in and lock in on the defensive side of things to give ourselves a chance. This is a team that’s finally healthy. This is a team that will compete for a Horizon League championship.”

YSU junior Naz Bohannon is averaging 14.5 points and 10 rebounds over the last four games. He is second in the league with 8.8 rebounds per game.

Sophomore guard Darius Quisenberry scored a game-high 22 in Saturday’s win at IUPUI. Bohannon had 13 rebounds and 18 points. Jelani Simmons added 12 points, while Michael Akuchie added 11 points and seven rebounds.

YSU is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation and has the best board work in the Horizon with almost a five-rebound margin per outing.

“We’ve got to rebound the ball at a high rate like we’ve done the entire season,” Calhoun said. “We’ve got to get paint touches. We’ve got to move the ball side to side. Get them in close-outs. Get ball reversals and really drive the basketball.”

YSU has been in downtown Chicago since Saturday evening, spending plenty of time with one another, dining together as a cluster of 30-plus people, and even getting a couple of hours to explore the city to do some shopping.

The Penguins’ mentor is hoping the momentum from Saturday trickles into tonight. The last time YSU won in Chicago was 2016, when the Penguins won 82-78.

“We’ve been able to spend a lot of quality time with one another,” Calhoun said. “Hopefully we come out today ready to go. To get two road wins would be tremendous. We were the only team in the league that won a road game (on Saturday). When you can win a road game in this conference, you really put yourself ahead of the curve because it’s so hard to win on the road.”