Aces rally falls short against Jacksonville State

UE falls in first home game of the season

In a defensive standoff at the Ford Center, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team dropped a 55-50 decision to Jacksonville State on Saturday afternoon.

Evansville (5-5) shot 30.8% on the day while Jacksonville State (6-4) was slightly higher at 35.0%.

“I thought we got a lot of good looks at the basket, but we did not play the way we normally play with pace and moving the basketball,” Aces head coach Walter McCarty said.  “We were out of character tonight as far as our principles. We gave them too many easy baskets in transition; our team just was not who we usually are. Jacksonville State has really good talent and play tough.  They get after it and are really competitive.”

John Hall had another excellent day for UE, finishing with his third double-double of the season.  He scored 14 points and added a career-best 14 rebounds. The leading defensive rebounder in the Missouri Valley Conference added 12 more caroms on that end.  Shea Feehan tied Hall’s team high with 14 points while K.J. Riley added 11. Shamar Givance came off the bench and added seven important second-half points.

“We were not playing our tempo, we had 22 points in the first half.  That is not our game,” Riley exclaimed. “Coach preaches to us to have 80 possessions a game and we did not do that today.  We did a good job of coming back, which was a good positive to build on.”

The Gamecocks were led by Ty Hudson’s 14 points.  Christian Cunningham and Jason Burnell added double-doubles for JSU.  Cunningham finished with 13 points and 15 boards while Burnell added 12 tallies and 10 caroms.

Both squads shot under 34% in the first half with UE finishing at 25% and JSU checking in at 33.3%.  Shea Feehan sent the Aces off to a 5-0 start with two free throws and a triple in the opening minutes.  The Gamecocks responded with eight in a row including triples by Jason Burnell and Ty Hudson.

JSU pushed its lead to as many as 12 points at 23-11 with 6:14 left in the half.  Evansville cut into the deficit in the final two minutes thanks to an and-one by K.J. Riley, but a Gamecock three at the buzzer gave them a 30-22 lead at the half.  Playing a key role in the lead for Jacksonville State was turning eight offensive rebounds into 16 second chance points. Hall and Feehan combined to score 19 of UE’s 22 points in the half.

Facing a halftime deficit has been something the Aces squad has been able to overcome and today was no exception.  Following a JSU three that pushed their lead to 11 (33-22), the Aces went on a 9-0 rally to get within a possession.  Feehan got the Aces rolling with his second 3-pointer before Riley hit a layup. Feehan added a pair of free throws before Riley’s second bucket of the half got UE within two.

Shamar Givance entered the game and made an immediate impact.  With UE down 38-35, his triple knotted the score at 38-38. After a JSU turnover, Givance found the open lane for a layup to give the Aces a 40-38 lead, their first since early in the opening half.  Seconds later, the Gamecocks retook the lead for good on a Hudson 3-pointer with 11:15 remaining.

“As a freshman and point guard – I need to always bring energy off the bench and be a leader on the court,” Givance said.  “Even though we missed shots, we have to just keep shooting the ball. I just do what I can to get everyone involved.”

JSU’s lead never went above five points, but the Aces were never able to closer than two points.  Inside the final two minutes, a Marlon Hunter layup pushed the Jacksonville State lead to 53-48. With 52 ticks left, John Hall hit a layup to get the Aces within three and a JSU turnover gave UE a chance at the final possession.

Coach McCarty called a time out with five seconds left to draw up the final play.  Noah Frederking inbounded the ball to Evan Kuhlman for an open triple, but the ball went in and out, giving the ball back to JSU as they clinched the 55-50 win.

“They (JSU) played Shea really good and I thought Evan was our best option on the last play,” Coach McCarty explained.  “The ball went in and out. We could not have asked for a better look.”

The final rebounding tally went to the Gamecocks, 46-35.  UE committed just 12 turnovers while forcing 17.

On Tuesday, UE will take on another Ohio Valley Conference foe as the team heads to Murray State.  Next Saturday, the Aces complete the pre-Christmas schedule with a 4 p.m. game against Green Bay inside the Ford Center.