Aces Open play On Thursday Against Illinois State
With the regular season complete, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team has its sights set on St. Louis where the Purple Aces will open up Arch Madness against Illinois State on Thursday evening at 8:30 p.m. The MVC TV Network, ESPN3 and the Purple Aces Radio Network presented by Learfield will have live coverage
On Wednesday, Aces players Dainius Chatkevicius and K.J. Riley were honored by the MVC. Chatkevicius was named to the All-Bench Team. The native of Lithuania played in 28 games, with 22 of those coming off the bench. He averaged 6.8 points per game and shot over 50% on the season. Chatkevicius is riding the top streak of his career into St. Louis.
Riley, a junior out of the Bronx, N.Y., led the Aces with 13.5 points per game in the regular season. Even more impressive – Riley ranks in the top 15 in the NCAA in free throw attempts and makes. He started all 31 games during the season and averaged 32.8 minutes per game.
Setting the Scene
– For the fifth time, the Aces head to St. Louis as the #10 seed and are pitted against the #7 seed Redbirds; UE has lost its first four games as the tenth seed
– Evansville has faced Illinois State five times at Arch Madness and has gone 0-4; the win for the Aces came in 2006 when they topped the 10-seed Redbirds as the no. 7 seed by a final of 52-45
– The Aces are 2-1 in their last three Thursday games in St. Louis
