Aces and Panthers meet on Thursday evening
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In its final tune-up before the start of the 2021-22 regular season, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will be back at the Ford Center on Thursday evening to face Kentucky Wesleyan.  The exhibition contest is set for a 6 p.m. start time.
Last Time Out                                                                                                          Â
– On Saturday, the Purple Aces pulled away for a 74-45 victory over Mount St. Joseph in the first preseason contest
– Shamar Givance and Emmette Page led the way with 14 points apiece while Antoine Smith Jr. added 13
– A back-and-forth battle early on saw the Lions wrestle away an 11-10 lead just over seven minutes into the game before Evansville retook control with a 10-0 run in the final two minutes of the first half to lead by a 40-22 tally at the break
– Preston Phillips tied Givance for the top rebound tally with five while fellow newcomer Blaise Beauchamp added nine points in his first on-court action at UE
Scouting the Opponent
– Kentucky Wesleyan is coming off of a 10-6 campaign that saw them win 9 of their 14 Great Midwest conference games before falling in the first round of the league tournament in March
– The Panthers lose top scorers Tre Cobbs and Zach Hopewell, who combined to average 30.3 points per game but will look to Wyatt Battaile and Jamil Wilson to pick up the slack
– Battaile recorded 12.1 PPG a season ago while Wilson finished with 8.8 points
A Brief History Lesson
– Thursday’s exhibition game will mark the next chapter in a rivalry that has been going since 1948
– While Thursday’s game does not officially count towards the all-time records, the teams have met on 58 occasions with Evansville taking 36 wins
– The teams have met just once in the regular season since 1986 with that game coming in 2018
New Guys Chipping In
– Exhibition games provide the opportunity to try out multiple different lineups while newcomers are able to work their way onto the floor
– Antoine Smith Jr. was in the starting lineup and finished with 13 points and 3 rebounds in 26 minutes of action
– While technically not a newcomer as he played two games last season, Emmette Page was 5-of-6 from the field on his way to 14 points…he led the team with three steals while adding a rebound and an assist
– Blaise Beauchamp was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line on his way to a 9-point game while Preston Phillips tied for the UE lead with five boards while dishing out two assists
– Blake Sisley scored three points in 13 minutes of work while Grant Tichenor recorded a helper in the final minute
