Men’s Basketball To Face Former MCC Foe, Saint Louis
Riding the momentum from its first win of the season, the University of Evansville men’s basketball is back on the road for at Saint Louis for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday. NBC Sports Network and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast
It’s Over!
– On Wednesday, the Purple Aces ended the longest winless drought in school history – 22 games – with a 68-65 win over Eastern Illinois
– It marked the first win for head coach Todd Lickliter since assuming the role in January of 2020
Last Time Out
– All five starters finished in double figures as the Aces fended off a furious challenge to defeat Eastern Illinois by a 68-65 margin on Wednesday night
– Making his season debut, Jawaun Newton poured in a career-best 19 points
– Evansville led by 15 (34-19) at halftime before EIU rallied, hitting its first six shots of the second half and 9 out of 13 triples in the latter period
– The Panthers came all the way back to tie the game before Evansville wrestled the lead away in the final minutes
Looking Back
– Evansville and Saint Louis were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference from 1982 through 1991
– The teams played 19 of their 29 all-time meetings over that span
– Since SLU departed the league in 1991, the teams have met just once – the 1998 Big Island Invitational in Hilo, Hawaii
– The Billikens have won five of the last six meetings in the series
He’s Back
– Making his season debut against Eastern Illinois, Jawaun Newton did not need much time to shake off the rust as he poured in a career-high 19 points in the big UE win
– Entering the game, Newton’s career scoring mark was 13 points in February at UNI, but he did it all versus EIU, knocking down 11 of his 13 free throw attempts
– He added 6 rebounds and 3 assists while drawing 8 fouls on the night
Continuing the success
– A season-high 15 points against EIU saw Evan Kuhlman raise he season average to 9.8 points per game
– It marked his second double-figure outing of the season after he opened with 10 at Louisville
– The consistent senior has scored at least seven in all four games while hauling in at least two rebounds while hitting all four of his free throw tries
Scouting the Opponent
– Saint Louis is a perfect 4-0 on the season and was ranked 27th in the AP Top 25 Poll and 28th in this week’s Coaches Poll
– The Billikens are a perfect 4-0 on the season, including an 85-81 win over LSU, and are outscoring the opposition by an average of 29.3 points per game
– Javonte Perkins is one of five double-digit scorers for SLU, averaging 19.8 points per game; he is a 60.4% shooter and checks in at 57.9% from outside
– Gibson Jimerson and Jordan Goodwin check in with 15.0 and 13.3 PPG, respectively
– Goodwin has notched 10.0 rebounds per contest
