UE to face Austin peay
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Fresh off of a perfect 5-0 home stand, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team heads south to take on Austin Peay on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
The Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network will have the broadcast while you can listen live at 91.5 WUEV or www.WUEV.org.
Ryan Taylor and Jaylon Brown combined to score 56 of the Aces’ 85 points in an 85-66 win over Norfolk State on Wednesday. Taylor drained 13 shots on his way to a career-best 38 points while Brown finished with 18. The Aces owned the boards against the Spartans, finishing with their top rebounding advantage of the year (38-24). Nine rebounds by Christian Benzon moved him into the team lead with 4.9 per game. UE has one more non-conference home game left as they face Mount St. Joseph on Thursday, Dec. 22.
Taylor scored 16 points in the first 8 minutes of play en route to a career-best 38 tallies against Norfolk State. He connected on 13 of his 21 attempts and was 6/10 from outside in the contest. The game marked his sixth double digit effort in the last seven games and pushed his season average up to 16.9 points per game, ranking fourth in the MVC.
For the first time since the 2001-02 campaign, UE has had two players record 30 or more points. Jaylon Brown had 39 against Toledo while Ryan Taylor scored 38 versus Norfolk State; the last duo to do so was Dan Lytle and Tobias Brinkley. Lytle scored 31 on 12/22/01 against Green Bay while Brinkley notched 30 in a game versus Wichita State on 2/23/02. It is the first time the Aces have had two 38-point efforts in the same season since 2011-12 when Colt Ryan had 43 against Creighton and 39 in a win over Bradley. The last time two different players registered 38 points or more came in 1988-89 when Dan Godfread scored 43 at Loyola (2/25/89) just seven days after Scott Haffner’s record-breaking effort of 65 against Dayton, which took place on Feb. 18, 1989.
Earning more playing time as a senior, Christian Benzon has taken full advantage of the opportunity. Benzon leads the Aces with 4.9 rebounds per game and has also notched 4.5 points while seeing 22.2 minutes of work per game. In the win over Norfolk State, Benzon hauled in a career-high 9 boards to move into the team lead.
Austin Peay comes into Saturday’s game with a 4-6 record following a 96-77 loss at Wofford on Thursday night. The Governors have fallen in their last four contests, a tough stretch that included a home-and-home at Fort Wayne and trips to Arkansas and Wofford. Jose Robinson is the top scorer for APSU, checking in at 20.4 points per game. Robinson poured in 28 points last time out versus the Terriers. Behind him is Kenny Jones, who checks in with 14.7 PPG.
