UE looks to right the ship against Southern Illinois
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Dainius Chatkevicius tied his career mark with 12 points on Wednesday evening as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team dropped an 85-62 game against Indiana State inside the Hulman Center.
Chatkevicius paced the Purple Aces (10-14, 4-7 MVC) with his 12 points; he was 4-for-6 from the field and knocked down four free throws. K.J. Riley scored 11 while Marty Hill posted 10.
Indiana State (12-11, 4-7 MVC) was led by an 18-point effort from Cooper Neese. Neese was 4-for-5 from long range on the evening. Tyreke Key added 15 for the Sycamores.
It was a slow start on the offensive side for the Purple Aces, who found themselves in a 13-3 hole midway through the first half. Evansville was 1-11 from the field to start the game. Jawaun Newton had UE’s first bucket of the night before an and-one by Shea Feehan cut into the deficit, making it a 13-6 game.
From there, the Sycamores took control. Another triple pushed the lead to double figures before the fourth trey of the evening for ISU made it a 26-11 lead. The Sycamores were 4-for-5 from long range to begin the game. Indiana State continued its hot shooting, heading to the break with a 39-17 lead. The 17 points for the Aces was their lowest scoring half of the season.
The first basket of the second half belonged to Indiana State as they drilled their sixth triple of the night and would push the lead out to 27 points (56-29) inside of 14 minutes remaining. Evansville battled back as Marty Hill notched a pair of 3-pointers to get back within 22, but three technical helped ISU push the lead back out and they would cruise to the 85-62 victory.
Evansville finished the night shooting 36.2% while the Sycamores finished at 54.2%. ISU finished the night with a 41-28 edge on the boards and were 9-of-15 from beyond the arc.
UE remains on the road this weekend, facing Southern Illinois on Saturday inside SIU Arena. Tip will be at 7 p.m. in Carbondale.
