Aces Look For Season Sweep Of UNI
In a rare Tuesday league game, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team looks for its first season sweep of UNI in five years as the Purple Aces take on the Panthers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Cedar Falls.
Evansville is coming off of a 72-55 defeat on Saturday at Missouri State as Ryan Taylor scored a team-high 13 points while Dru Smith posted 12 in his first game back after missing the previous three. K.J. Riley chipped in nine points for the second game in a row. The Bears led from start to finish, leading by as many as 23 before taking the 17-point win.
Taylor kept his streak alive of scoring in double figures in each game this season. He leads the MVC with 21.2 points per game. Prior to Saturday’s game at MSU, Taylor scored 20 or more points in five consecutive games. Riley has also been on a nice streak, scoring nine points in each of the last two games. In the six games before his streak, Riley averaged just 5.2PPG.
UNI stands at 12-14 and 4-10 in the Valley going into Tuesday’s game in Cedar Falls. The Panthers has fallen in four of their last five games, including a 57-49 loss to the Aces in Evansville on Jan. 31. Bennett Koch continues to be the top offensive weapon for the Panthers, posting a team-high 12.5 points per game; he has also hit 109 free throws, more than double anyone else on the team. Tywhon Pickford leads UNI with 8.0 rebounds per game.
UE and UNI have split their series with each team winning 26 out of 52 games. Evansville picked up a 57-49 win at the Ford Center on January 31. UNI has won seven of the last ten games overall and four in a row at the MeLeod Center.
Just two weeks ago, the Aces and Panthers met at the Ford Center with Evansville grinding out a 57-49 win. Ryan Taylor led everyone with 25 points while Blake Simmons notched his first double-double with 15 points and 15 boards.
