UE to play Green Bay in 4 p.m. game Saturday

Aces wrap up Pre-Christmas schedule

The final non-conference home contest of the season for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team is set for Saturday afternoon when the Purple Aces welcome Green Bay for a 4 p.m. game.  ESPN+ will have the broadcast.

It will mark First Responder and Military Appreciation Night.  Current and former first responders and military personnel receive a free ticket for them and a guest to the game.  Additional guest tickets will be available for just $5.

“Green Bay likes to play fast just like us, they are near the top in the country when it comes to tempo.  They push the basketball and have the guys that can score,” Aces head coach Walter McCarty said.  “We have to be very engaged in knowing that they want to score fast off of rebounds, free throws and made baskets.  We have to be alert and get back and shut the paint down, be ready to spread out and guard their shooters.   They really push the ball and are more like us than anyone else we have played.”

Setting the Scene

– Evansville and Green Bay face off for the 8th time with the Aces winning five of the first seven games

– The squads last met in the 2014 Gulf Coast Showcase with Green Bay taking a 64-62 win; they were led by current Bradley coach Brian Wardle

– UE has won all four games played in Evansville

– Through six home games in 2018, UE is 5-1

Last Time Out

– In a back-and-forth contest, a last-second shot pushed Murray State to a 66-64 win on Tuesday at the CFSB Center

– Evansville erased a 7-point halftime deficit to take a 60-53 lead with just over four minutes remaining, but the Racers picked up points in each of their final eight possessions to pick up the win

– UE’s toughness was on display once again as the squad outrebounded MSU, 38-34, while holding the Racers to 39% shooting

– K.J. Riley had the second double-double of his career with 13 points and 11 boards

Takeaways from Murray State

– After the first nine games of the season were all decided by five or more points, the last two have been decided by a total of seven points

– Redshirt sophomore Devan Straub made his UE debut, playing four minutes while dishing out an assist

– K.J. Riley continued to play at a high level; he has now recorded double figures in scoring in six consecutive contests

– The bench for UE outscored that of MSU by a 25-16 margin

Playing with Pace

– According to KenPom.com, the Aces are averaging 73.4 possessions per game, which ranks 53rd in the nation

– It is a large disparity from last season when UE was 295th in the country, averaging 65.7 possessions

Connecting the Dots

-  Green Bay is the only one of UE’s 2018-19 opponents that head coach Walter McCarty faced as a player at Kentucky

– He scored 10 points in a 74-62 Wildcat win on December 6, 1995

– UE assistant coach Todd Lickliter won six games in a row over the Phoenix between 2005 and 2007 as the head coach at Butler

– Aces assistant Matthew Graves enjoyed some good moments against Green Bay; as a senior for Butler in 1997-98, his team went 3-0 against the Phoenix and defeated them by a 70-51 final in the MCC Championship game

– As an assistant with BU, Graves enjoyed a 13-1 stretch against Green Bay between 2005 and 2012

Scouting the Opponent

– Green Bay makes its first trip to the Ford Center with a 6-6 mark

– While the Phoenix are 1-3 in their last four games, they own a huge 100-92 home win over Belmont that came on December 1

– Sandy Cohen III leads the Phoenix with 15.7 points per game; he is also their top rebounder with 5.8 per contest and has a team-high 64 assists

– JayQuan McCloud (13.3 PPG) and ShanQuan Hemphill (12.5 PPG) also average double figures