Evansville set to return home on Wednesday
Ryan Taylor reeled off the first 11 points of the game and finished with a career high of 22 but Middle Tennessee State overcame his efforts to earn a 66-55 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in Sunday’s final game of the Challenge in Music City at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
Taylor paced the Purple Aces (2-4) with his 22 tallies as he went 8-of-13 from the field and hit three triples. Willie Wiley was next in the scorebook with 9 points. He also had five rebounds. In his first start at UE, Sergej Vucetic finished with four points and a team-best six rebounds. David Howard matched his mark on the boards.
JaCorey Williams led MTSU (6-1) with 25 points, ten rebounds and four assists.
“We had stretches where we played extremely well and did some good things in all three games,†UE head coach Marty Simmons said. “There are a lot of positives we can take away and get better moving forward. We are thankful to all of those who came down here to support us, it means a ton.â€
Middle Tennessee State scored the opening five points of the game and extended the run to 9-3 as they hit four of their first five shots of the night. Ryan Taylor kept the Aces in the contest as he scored the first 11 UE points as the squad took their first lead at 11-9 with 15:08 left in the first half.
Taylor helped the Aces post a 16-0 run. Down 9-3, the Aces made the run to take a 19-9 lead. Willie Wiley capped off the run with a jumper while Taylor was responsible for 13 of the tallies. The Blue Raiders fought their way back as eight early JaCorey Williams points saw them cut the gap to three at 22-19 inside of 9-minute mark. They continued to fight back as the half wound down, hitting a pair of free throws to make it a 29-29 game at the break.
After Sergej Vucetic hit a layup in the first possession of the second half, Giddy Potts hit a trey to give MTSU its first lead since the opening moments of the game. Six lead changes led to a 39-38 Blue Raider lead. At that point, they went on a 10-2 run to take a 49-40 advantage, their largest edge of the game.
Their lead reached as many as ten before the Aces made their way back. A quick 5-0 spurt got the Aces back within five at 54-49 with five minutes left, but the Blue Raiders were able to counter, going up by as many as 13 before finishing with the 66-55 final.
Evansville will be back at the Ford Center on Wednesday to face Wabash. Game time is 7 p.m.
