Game time is 6 p.m. at the Ford Center
 The 2018-19 home schedule will wrap up for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Wednesday night when they take on Southern Illinois in a 6 p.m. contest at the Ford Center. It will mark Senior Day where the 2019 class of Jared Chestnut, Dainius Chatkevicius, Shea Feehan and Marty Hill will be honored. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network presented by Learfield will have live coverage.
Setting the Scene
– Evansville welcomes the Salukis to the Ford Center for its home finale for the second season in a row; last year, the Aces picked up a 75-44 win over SIU
– On Saturday, the Aces complete the regular season at Valparaiso in a 1 p.m. contest
– With Arch Madness a week away, UE is locked into the 10th spot and will take on the #7 seed at 8:35 p.m. on Thursday, March 7
– The Aces hope to put an end to a recent slide, falling in its last six games and 10 out of 11 overall
Last Time Out
– Trailing by 10 with 4:10 remaining, the Aces staged a huge rally, getting with two points with a chance to get even closer, but Bradley hung on for a 63-61 win on Saturday at Carver Arena
– K.J. Riley registered 13 points and 9 rebounds, both team highs, while Peoria native Shea Feehan scored 11
– UE out-shot the Braves by a 38.6%-32.7% margin, but BU made 23 out of 30 free throws while the Aces made just 12 trips to the line, converting eight of those attempts
Takeaways from Bradley
– Despite falling in its last six games, the Aces have been extremely competitive, especially in the second half; UE has outscored the opposition by 1.5 points in the final 20 minutes over the 6-game skid and has tied or outscored the opponent 4 times
– Evansville trailed Bradley by 5 points at the half; over the last six games, the Aces have averaged a 13.0-point deficit at the end of the first half
– Over the final 10 minutes of the first half, opponents have outscored UE by a 141-74 tally in the last six contests
– Dainius Chatkevicius added another 7-point game; over the last five games, he has posted 9.6 points
Send Marty to Minneapolis
– Senior Marty Hill is one of 16 finalists for the Dark Horse Dunker Competition
– Four rounds of voting will take place with the winner participating in the dunk contest at the Final Four
– This year’s Final Four is in Hill’s home town of Minneapolis
Scouting the Opponent
– Southern Illinois suffered a 4-game slide in mid-January, but has won six out of ten games since January 23 including a 63-53 win over Loyola on Sunday
– The Salukis defeated the Aces by a final of 78-73 in the first meeting at SIU Arena
– Four Salukis average double figures with Armon Fletcher leading the way with 15.3 points per game; he is also tied for the team high with 5.9 rebounds
– Kavion Pippen averages 12.5 PPG while Aaron Cook and Sean Lloyd average 10.8 and 10.5, respectively
