UE Travels To Oxford, Ohio
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With two exhibition games in the books, the regular season officially opens on Monday evening when the University of Evansville men’s basketball team travels to Miami Ohio. Tip is set for 7:30 PM CT with ESPN3 and the Purple Aces Sports Network having the coverage.
Last Time OutÂ
– On Wednesday, the Purple Aces earned a hard-fought 74-64 win over Huntington
– Kenny Strawbridge Jr. led the way with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists
– Hitting 6 of his 7 attempts once again, Antoine Smith Jr. scored 15 points
– Blaise Beauchamp recorded 12 points with Marvin Coleman II scoring 11
Exhibition Game # 1Â
– UE opened its exhibition slate on Oct. 29 with an 81-56 victory over Oakland City
– Antoine Smith Jr. recorded a game-high 17 points while Marvin Coleman II tallied 12 points and 8 rebounds
– Kenny Strawbridge Jr. and Blaise Beauchamp scored 10 points each while Strawbridge tied Coleman’s team high of 8 boards
– After starting the game 1-for-7 from the field, Evansville hit 31 of its final 61 attempts on the way to the win
– Defensively, the Purple Aces forced 19 turnovers while holding the Mighty Oaks to 34.6% shooting
Setting the Scene
– For the second year in a row, UE will open its season in the Cincinnati area following the 2021-22 season opener taking place against the University of Cincinnati
– This will be the 9th meeting since 2009
– UE has won 4 of the last 5 games in the series and 8 out of 10 since 1990
– The last trip to Millett Hall saw the RedHawks finish with a 70-67 win over the Aces on Dec. 30, 2018
Coaching Link
– Aces head coach David Ragland has a connection to Miami assistant Khristian Smith from their days at Indiana State
– Ragland was an assistant coach for the Sycamores in Smith’s first two seasons – 2012-13 and 2013-14
– In those two seasons, ISU was 41-26 with two berths in the Postseason NIT
Season Openers
– Monday will tip off the 104th season of Aces basketball
– In 103 previous season openers, the Aces
are 67-36
– UE is in search of its first season-opening road win since a 63-51 win over Western Michigan in 1994
– Since then, the Aces have opened the season on the road just six times, dropping each contest
Scouting the Opponent
– Miami University is in a similar position to Evansville with a new staff in place as Travis Steele is set to coach his first game with the program
– The RedHawks are coming off a 14-18 campaign that saw them record an 8-12 mark in the Mid-American Conference
– Evansville native Mekhi Lairy is the top returning scorer for MU with his average standing at 13.6 points per game last season; a 91.5% free throw shooter a season ago, Lairy completed the season with 109 assists and 40 steals
