Aces Take On Redbirds at 1 p.m. SaturdayÂ
With the non-conference slate complete, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team has its sights set on Missouri Valley Conference play which starts against Illinois State on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Ford Center.
It will be the annual West Side Game that promotes awareness of Logan’s Promise in memory of Logan Brown. You can still pick up vouchers to purchase $5 tickets to the game at several locations on the west side of town. Evansville will be wearing orange on Saturday and the crowd is encouraged to do the same.
The Purple Aces are set to embark on their 24th season in the MVC. Through the first 23 seasons, the Aces are 10-13 in their openers, including a 62-50 defeat against the Redbirds last season. Head coach Marty Simmons is 4-6 in his 10 Valley openers.
By starting the season at 10-3, the Aces posted double digit wins in pre-conference play for the third time in four years. The Aces wrapped up the pre-conference schedule on Wednesday at #4 Duke, falling by a final of 104-40.
Posting against one of the top front courts in the nation, Dainius Chatkevicius finished with a career-high 12 points at Duke. Chatkevicius hit 6 of his 11 attempts while also grabbing five rebounds. His 5.8 boards per game ranks 11th in the MVC while he is one of the most accurate shooters in the league, sitting at 60.0% through 13 games. Chatkevicius also paces the team with 14 blocked shots.
Senior Blake Simmons has continued his banner season in his final year with the Purple Aces. In victories over Austin Peay and Midway, Simmons averaged 18 points per game while shooting 60% from the field (12-of-20); Simmons matched his career-high of 18 points in both contests. Over his last six games, Simmons has averaged 14.7 points per game and has seen his season average jump to 11.8 PPG. Simmons begins league play with 921 career points; he is just 79 shy of becoming the 49th player in program history to score 1,000 in his career.
Illinois State finished its non-conference slate with a 6-6 record, but have won two in a row starting with a 101-97 overtime win against Southern Miss. Three Redbirds average 16 points per game, led by Keyshawn Evans’ 18.7 PPG. Phil Fayne and Milik Yarbrough stand at 16.7 and 16.2 points, respectively. ISU has won seven of the last eight meetings against the Aces including an 80-69 win in last year’s MVC Tournament.
