UE welcomes Eastern Illinois
Playing its latest home opener in over 25 years, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will take to the Ford Center floor for the first time this season when the Purple Aces face Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast.
Home Opener
– Evansville’s Dec. 9 home opener is the latest since the 1994-95 campaign when the Aces took on Illinois State in a Dec. 10 opener, winning by a 78-51 final
– Interestingly enough – that was the Aces first game as members of the Missouri Valley Conference
– The 10th season of play at the Ford Center commences with Wednesday’s game – through nine openers at the venue, UE is 8-1 with the lone setback being a 56-50 loss to Buffalo in 2012
Last Time Out
– Four Aces players set career marks last Wednesday in a 93-87 double overtime loss at UT Martin
– Trailing for most of the game, the Aces rallied to take a 3-point lead in the final minute before a UT Martin triple at the buzzer sent the game to overtime where they would eventually win in two extra periods
– Noah Frederking led Evansville with 22 points while Shamar Givance (17), Jax Levitch (15), Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander (11) and Gage Bobe (9) all set the career scoring marks
Looking Back
– For the second game in a row, the Aces face a team for the first time since the 2015 CIT Championship run
– In the second game of that tournament, UE traveled to Charleston, Ill. to face the Panthers where they earned a dominant 83-68 win
– D.J. Balentine led UE with a game-high 22 points while Egidijus Mockevicius recorded 21 points and 16 rebounds
Setting the Scene
– Wednesday’s home opener pits the Aces against EIU, who enters play on a 2-game win streak following a double overtime win at Green Bay on Saturday
– Despite an 0-3 mark, the Aces have numerous bright spots following the first three games of the season
– Noah Frederking is 5th in the MVC averaging 16.3 PPG and is coming off of back-to-back 20+ point games while Jax Levitch has risen to a tie for third in the league with 7.0 rebounds per game
– The Aces look to end a 22-game losing streak, the longest in program history
20-20
– Entering his senior season, Noah Frederking had just one 20-point game to his credit at UE, but he has come out on fire in 2020 with consecutive efforts of 20 or more
– He finished with 20 versus Prairie View A&M before pouring in 22 at UT Martin where he was 8-of-13 from the field and 6-of-9 from outside
– Frederking ranks 5th in the MVC with 16.3 points per game and is second with 3.3 triples per contest
– Over the final 16 games of the year, Frederking was looked upon to log some big minutes, playing 26.6 minutes per game over that span; he ranks second thus far in 2020 with 35.0 minutes per contest, a tally that is third in the Valley
– Last season, Frederking finished the year shooting 31% from outside, but has been much more efficient this season, checking in at 47.6% – one of the top percentages in the league with at least 20 attempts (10-of-21)
– He paces the conference with a perfect 100% free throw total (7/7)
Making an Impression
– Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander set career marks in nearly every category at UT Martin including: points (11), field goals (4), attempts (6), rebounds (5), assists (4) steals (1) and minutes (20)
– The redshirt freshman was limited to six minutes over the span of three games last season due to injury but has improved this year as his playing time has increased
– Gilgeous-Alexander has played at least 14 minutes in all three games thus far
– He posted three rebounds and two helpers against PVAMU
Well That Didn’t Take Long
– Gage Bobe continues to take full advantage of his increased playing time this season
– At UT Martin, Bobe played 22 minutes and set his scoring high with 9 points, all coming from outside where he was 3-for-4
– The walk-on logged 16 minutes of work in the opener at Louisville
– As a freshman – he played 12 minutes over the entire season
– Bobe connected on his first field goal against Prairie View A&M
Scouting the Opponent
– Eastern Illinois comes to the Ford Center riding a 2-game win streak
– Following a tough road swing that saw them travel to Wisconsin, Marquette and Dayton, the Panthers rebounded with wins over Chicago State and Green Bay to move to 2-3 on the season
– On Saturday, EIU outlasted the Phoenix in double overtime, 93-91
– Josiah Wallace sits atop the Panther squad with 17 points per game and is coming off of a stellar 27-point outing at Green Bay
– Wallace was 9-for-16 from the field and hit 9 of his 11 free throw tries
– Mack Smith and Marvin Johnson are tied for second with 9.2 PPG
