Cal Preps for UIC and its Potent Point Guard Elijah Crawford

Rob Ehsan, whose University of Illinois-Chicago team visits Cal for their NIT opener on Wednesday night at 8 p.m., has sat on the visitor’s bench at Haas Pavilion three times previously.

A native of Sacramento, Ehsan was an assistant coach at Stanford for three seasons through 2023-24, and the Cardinal did not fare well in its visits to Haas those seasons.

“I don’t think we ever won there,” he said, accurately reflecting the results. “The one year was when they made every single shot — it was crazy. They shot 70-something percent from 3.”

Ehsan has a good memory. It was the 2022-23 season, when Cal went 3-29 in coach Mark Fox’s final year, and the Bears somehow connected on 16 of 22 attempts from beyond the arc — 72.7 percent — in a 92-70 victory.

It was Jan. 6, and it was the last game Cal won all season.

The team Ehsan brings to Haas on Wednesday should present a greater challenge. The Flames (19-15) have won 14 of their past 19 games, thanks in part to the recent efforts of sophomore point guard Elijah Crawford.

Crawford was injured in the team’s second game back in November and missed the next 12 outings. UIC went 3-9 in his absence. With him on the floor, the Flames are 16-6.

He leads the team with a 14.1 scoring average but has found a groove over the past nine games, producing 17.6 points and 5.9 assists. He scored a career-high 28 points in the Flames’ 84-69 loss to Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final, and had 10 assists last month in a win over Evansville.

“Crawford’s a fantastic player,” Cal coach Mark Madsen said. “He has a burst going to the basket, he has the strength to finish at the rim. I have no idea how tall he is, but the guy plays with an absolutely huge heart.

“One of the most elite passing guards in the country, but he also maintains his ability to score. When he was out, IUC was a good team. With him healthy, they’re a great team.”

Ehsan initially recruited Crawford to Stanford and he was headed to The Farm until coach Jerod Haase was fired. Crawford flipped to BYU, but did not do much last season as a freshman, and transferred to UIC this year.

“He’s very dynamic,” Ehsan said. “Very athletic. Can get to the paint. He’s a great passer. He really proved himself over the last two months as one of the best point guards in the Valley.”

The Flames also have a sixth man of consequence in Ahmad Henderson II, a 5-10, 144-pound junior from Chicago. He averages 12.1 points per game, but has boosted that to 17.6 over the past nine games. Henderson also converted 87 percent of his free throws, so he’s likely to be on the floor late in games.

“He’s kind of like a spark-plug for us off the bench,” Ehsan said. “Very fast, dynamic also. Just small.”

Not every UIC player weighs 144 pounds. The Flames are an aggressive offensive rebounding team, averaging 12.85 per game, which could be an area where they exploit the Bears.

“We offensive rebound at a really high rate,” Ehsan confirmed. “We’ve kind of evolved. This year’s team is very physical. Replay an aggressive style of defense where we try to turn people over. We trap a lot. We’ve kind of been built on our defense. We get a lot of steals We fly around.”

Madsen has no doubt his team will have to be ready to play.

“In studying the film, some of the common themes are they play extremely hard. They’re very athletic. They can shoot the 3 and they also know how to cut,” he said. “They’re extremely physical — they’re going to shove you under the basket and try to get the offensive rebound. They create turnovers.

“All the hallmarks of who Rob is as a coach and his personality in terms of the game of basketball.”

FIRST-EVER MEETING: Cal and UIC will meet for the first time ever, but the Flames have some history against current members of the ACC. They are 2-12 all-time vs. ACC teams, with both of their victories over Georgia Tech.

WHAT THE NET SAYS: The NET computer has Cal at No. 68, the sixth-highest ranking of any school in the 32-team NIT. The Flames, ranked No. 110, are 23rd among tournament entries.

FLAMES’ GLORY DAYS: UIC has played in the NCAA tournament three times (1998, 2002, ’04), all of them under former coach Jimmy Collins, who is better known for his playing career. Collins averaged 24.3 points as a senior at New Mexico State in 1969-70, leading the Aggies to the Final Four, where they lost to UCLA under coach John Wooden.

Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky