UE takes on SIU in first meeting of the season
 On Wednesday, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team opens its season series against Southern Illinois with a 6 p.m. game inside the Ford Center. The game will be carried on ESPN+ along with the Purple Aces Radio Network.
 Setting the Scene
– The first meeting of the season between the Aces and Salukis sees both teams on opposing streaks – SIU has won five in a row while the Aces have dropped their last 10
– Last season, the Salukis swept the season series and have won four of the last six games against UE; in the home finale last year, SIU grabbed a 98-91 win
– Despite its record, UE continues to progress each game and finished the second half of Saturday’s game versus UNI with 52 points, its second-highest scoring half of the season
– Evan Kuhlman has evolved over the last two games, tying his career mark with 14 points against the Panthers; he has hit 8 of his last 14 attempts
– Following Wednesday’s game, the Aces will have just three more home games on the schedule
Last Time Out
– It was a tale of two halves on Saturday when the Aces took on the Panthers – UE had its lowest scoring half with 16 to begin the game, but rebounded with its second-highest tally of 52 points in the second half as UNI earned an 80-68 win
– Three UE players had 14 points with Sam Cunliffe, Evan Kuhlman and K.J. Riley tying for the team scoring high
– Kuhlman’s effort tied his career high – he connected on five out of seven attempts
– Evansville trailed by as many as 16 in the opening moments of the second half, but clawed their way back within four tallies before UNI was able to pull away in the final minutes
– The first nine Evansville shots in the second half found the bottom of the net with UE shooting 69.2% (18/26) in the final stanza
Showing his Accuracy
– John Hall is starting to find a nice rhythm for Evansville, recording at least six points in the last five games averaging 8.2 points
– His rebounding has also improved. In his last nine outings, Hall has recorded an average of 4.1 per game with his season mark of seven caroms coming versus Drake
– Hall is shooting 50% overall (12/24) in the last three contests but has hit 15 of last 22 shots inside the arc in the last five outings
– Over the first seven MVC games this season, Hall averaged 4.4 points per game while shooting 23.6% from the field; the last three games have seen those numbers jump to 10.0 points and 50% shooting
Back in Action
– Junior Evan Kuhlman had an excellent week for the Aces, culminating in a 14-point game against UNI, tying his career scoring mark
– Making the start in both games, Kuhlman knocked down eight of his 14 field goal tries while playing 24.5 minutes per game
– He was 3-for-7 at Illinois State while posting four assists and two blocks while his 14-point game against the Panthers saw him hit five out of seven attempts while going 3-3 from the free throw line to go with a pair of steals
Scouting the Opponent
– Winners of their last five games, Southern Illinois enters Wednesday’s game with a 13-10 record and are 7-3 in conference games
– The Salukis picked up a 79-72 win at Drake on Saturday to sweep the season series and own victories over UNI and Loyola
– Marcus Domask leads the way for SIU with 15.0 points per game; he is a 50.9% shooter and has one of the top outside shooting tallies on the squad – hitting 42.6% of his outside tries (46/108)
– Eric McGill checks in with 11.5 points while Barret Benson has averaged 10.1 points
– Benson, a graduate transfer from Northwestern, leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per contest
