UE to finish non-conference slate on Saturday
Jacksonville State began the night on an 8-2 run and would pull away from there, defeating the University of Evansville men’s basketball team by a final of 85-59 on Monday evening inside Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Sam Cunliffe was the lone double figure scorer for Evansville (8-4), finishing the night with 11 points. DeAndre Williams, Artur Labinowicz, K.J. Riley, Evan Kuhlman, Jawaun Newton and Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander each finished with six points. Riley and Labinowicz paced the team with five boards.
“Give credit to Jacksonville State, they came out ready to play. We did not match their intensity all night,†UE head coach Walter McCarty said. “They got off to a big start and we could not overcome it.â€
Jacksonville State connected on its first three shots of the game en route to an 8-2 lead. DeAndre Williams’ second bucket of the night cut the deficit back to four, but the Gamecocks were able to push their lead to eight points thanks to a 6-of-9 start from the floor.
From there, the Gamecocks continued to shoot lights out as they would take a 47-23 lead into halftime. The first double figure lead came at 25-15 inside of nine minutes remaining in the half and they put it on cruise control from there, outscoring the Aces by a 15-3 margin in the last six minutes of the half to take a 24-point lead at the break. JSU shot 55.6% overall while draining seven triples in the opening 20 minutes.
Evansville came out with a much better start in the second half, posting the first six points. Just as he did in the first half, Williams got the Aces started with a basket before Hall and Cunliffe added two more field goals. An and-one by K.J. Riley cut the deficit to 17 tallies at 49-32 in the first four minutes. Jawaun Newton came off the bench and upped the energy level for his team, scoring six points while pressuring the JSU offense. The deficit cut to 16 points before a pair of technical fouls saw the Gamecocks push their lead back to 20.
With 13 minutes left, another triple pushed the JSU lead to 58-35. From there, they took full control and cruised to the 85-59 win. They led by as many as 29 points in the win. Leading the Gamecocks was Jacara Cross, who tallied 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting. The Gamecocks shot 54.8% on the night while the Aces finished at 40.4%. The rebounding total also went JSU’s way by a 39-26 final.
On Saturday, the Aces wrap up the non-conference schedule with a 6 p.m. game against Murray State at the Ford Center. It will be an Orange Out and fans are encouraged to wear orange to the game. Lower bowl seats are going fast and a limited amount remain.
