Aces face Cardinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – On Saturday, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team travels to Muncie, Ind. for a non-conference game at Ball State. Tip is set for 1 p.m. CT with the Purple Aces Radio Network and ESPN+ having the coverage.
Last Time Out
– Down by six points with three minutes remaining, the Purple Aces outscored Campbell by a 16-4 margin to finish the game before earning a 72-66 win
– Wednesday’s game against the Camels featured a season-high 19 lead changes
– Marvin Coleman II and Yacine Toumi each set their career highs with 18 points and interestingly enough – both were 7-for-11 from the floor
– Antoine Smith Jr. scored a season-high 15 points while hitting the triple that gave UE the lead for good
– Freshmen Gabe Spinelli (9 points) and Chris Moncrief (4 points) also had the top scoring games of their young careers
Clutch Hits
– With one minute remaining in the Dec. 7 game against Campbell, Antoine Smith Jr. drained a 3-pointer that gave the Aces a 66-64 lead that they would hang onto in a 72-66 win
– Smith completed the game with a season-high 15 points while draining 3 of his 4 outside attempts
– It was his second start of the season with his first being a 10-point game at UNI
– He has been on a roll of the last three games, averaging 12.3 points per game after recording a mark of 5.9 PPG through the opening eight contests
Back in the Fold
– Yacine Toumi missed the UNI game due to health protocols but returned with a vengeance against Campbell as he posted a career-high 18 points
– Toumi was 7-for-11 from the field while hauling in six rebounds
– The effort was his seventh double digit scoring performance in his 10 games
Locked In
– Marvin Coleman II enjoyed one his top collegiate games against Campbell as he set career-highs in scoring (18 points), field goals (7), triples (4) and minutes (38:20)
– It was his first double digit scoring game since opening the season with 11 at Miami
– Coleman entered the game hitting just two of his first 22 3-point tries but rebounded to hit 4 out of 7 against the Camels
– Over the last three games, Coleman has converted 14 out of 30 attempts (46.7%)…he opened the season hitting just 13 out of his first 70 field goal tries (18.6%)
– He is tied for 12th in the MVC with 6.2 rebounds and is tied for 16th with 2.7 assists per contest
Making Some Noise
– Every time freshman Chris Moncrief has taken the floor, he has evolved his game
– He enjoyed his best performance against Campbell where he hit both field goal attempts (including a dunk) while being credited with a pair of assists
– Moncrief has played 9 or more minutes in four of the last five games
Evolving his Game
– Gabe Spinelli has turned his season around over the last five games
– The freshman registered a career-high 9 points on 4-for-6 shooting versus Campbell and has averaged 5.8 points over the last five contests while hitting 14 of his 25 attempts (56.0%)
– In his first six games, Spinelli scored a total of 7 points (1.2 PPG) and hit 2 of his first 11 attempts
– His previous high of six points came against Fairfield and Southern Illinois
Scouting the Opponent
– Ball State sits at 5-4 on the season following a 76-59 road victory over Eastern Illinois on Wednesday
– The Cardinals are 2-0 at home with wins over Earlham and Indiana South Bend
– Four players average in double figures with Payton Sparks leading the way with 14.4 points per game while hitting 61.3% of his attempts
– Sparks also leads the squad with 7.9 rebounds per game
– Jarron Coleman is averaging 12.7 PPG and has a team-high 32 assists
– Jaylin Sellers and Demarius Jacobs have scoring marks of 12.3 and 12.2 PPG, respectively
