Road Trip Continues On Wednesday At Missouri State
Aces and Bears to play at 7 p.m. at JQH Arena
On Wednesday, a quick 2-game road trip concludes when the University of Evansville men’s basketball team visits Missouri State for a 7 p.m. game at JQH Arena.
Last time out, a late rally saw Drake earn an 88-76 win over Evansville on Sunday at the Knapp Center. The Aces led by a 72-70 score with four minutes remaining, but a furious Bulldog rally saw them finish the game on an 18-4 run to earn the win. Jaylon Brown was the top scorer once again for the Aces, finishing with 23 points. Dru Smith had his best game as a member of the Purple Aces, totaling 14 points; Duane Gibson matched Smith’s total of 14 while Ryan Taylor had 10.
After missing five games due to injury, freshman Dru Smith came back with a vengeance at Drake. The Evansville native set career marks in points (14), field goal makes (5), attempts (11), 3-pointers (2) and assists (6). Smith showed no rust from his missed time as he saw 28 minutes of action. His return saw him notch six assists and no turnovers; his assist-to-turnover ratio for the season is 3:1.
Jaylon Brown continues to sit atop the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring (21.1 points per game), free throw percentage (.840) and minutes per game (36.1). Brown added 23 more points to his tally on Sunday at Drake as he hit 8 out of 13 shots and all four free throw attempts.
For the third time this season, Duane Gibson reached double figures as he set his season high of 14 points at Drake. Gibson knocked down 6 of his 9 attempts while recording 6 rebounds and 6 assists. He has started all 15 games that he has appeared in and currently stands with an average of 5.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Despite missing two games, Gibson leads the Aces with a total of 59 assists.
A 75-67 loss to Southern Illinois on Saturday has Missouri State standing at an 11-6 overall mark and an even 2-2 record in MVC play. Three Bears average double figures, led by Alize Johnson at 13.6 points per game; Johnson is the only MSU player to start all 17 games. Johnson is a beast on the boards, checking in with a conference-leading 9.8 per game; that tally is 1.4 more than any other player in the league.Ronnie Rousseau III enters Wednesday’s tilt with 11.6 PPG while Dequon Miller stands with 11.1. In the loss to SIU, Miller and Jarred Dixon notched a team-high 15 points apiece while Johnson finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
