Regular season finale on tap for UE men’s basketball
Aces travel to Illinois State on Sunday afternoon
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 2024-25 regular season comes to a close on Sunday as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team travels to Normal, Ill. to face Illinois State at 2 p.m. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast.
Last Time Out
– Facing Drake in the home finale, the Purple Aces put up a fight before coming up just short in a 65-61 contest on Wednesday
– The teams swapped the lead 13 times in a competitive contest that saw Tayshawn Comer lead the way with 20 points while Tanner Cuff added 14
Looking Ahead
– Entering Sunday’s action, the Aces have a chance to be seeded anywhere between 5th and 10th for next week’s Arch Madness
– Standings may not be finalized until Monday morning when the latest NET rankings are released
Full 40
– For the fourth game in a row and ninth time this season, Gabriel Pozzato played all 40 minutes against Drake
– Pozzato is 6th in the MVC with 34.94 minutes per game
– He has averaged 18.0 PPG over the last three contests
– The 3-time MVC Freshman of the Week is the #7 scorer in the league with 15.45 PPG
– He earned his third MVC freshman accolade on Feb. 3 as he averaged 25.5 PPG in wins over Murray State and Belmont
– After missing eight games, he returned on Jan. 18 against Belmont
– Pozzato has posted double figures in 18 of his 22 games this year
Reaching 1K
– Tayshawn Comer scored 22 points at UIC to surpass the 1,000-point mark in his career
– After scoring 539 points in two seasons at Eastern Kentucky, Comer has 487 this season at UE to stand at 1,026 points
– Comer recorded his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 assists against Valparaiso
– His 11 assists tied his career mark
– Over the last 17 games, Comer is averaging 20.0 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game over that time and leads UE with his season scoring average of 16.2 PPG
– Included in that tally is a career-high 27 points in the win over Murray State, besting his mark of 26 in the road win at SIU
Scouting the Opponent
– Illinois State has won two of its last three games to enter the regular season finale with a record of 17-13 and 9-10 in the Valley
– The Redbirds hold an 11-4 mark at home this season
– Chase Walker is the top threat for the Redbirds, pacing the team with 15.4 PPG and 6.0 RPG
– Johnny Kinziger is averaging 15.2 points and 3.8 rebounds
– Dalton Banks has chipped in 9.8 PPG and paces the team with 112 assists and 50 steals on the season
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