Aces earn 74-50 win over Cardinals
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Playing in front of 5,172 fans inside the Ford Center, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team put on a show in an impressive 74-50 victory over Ball State on Saturday afternoon. Evansville improved to 4-0 to open a season for the first time since 2017.
Highlighting the day was the performance of Kenny Strawbridge Jr. In the second half, he reached the 1,000-point mark in his collegiate career on his way to a team-high 13 points. Ben Humrichous and Joshua Hughes scored 12 apiece.
“Our guys were locked in from the start. It is a mindset and a commitment to the process. To be able to respond the way we did in front of a large crowd and play the right way was something that I really commend our guys for,†UE head men’s basketball coach David Ragland exclaimed following the win. “We are committed to reviving this program. Winnings games is part of that process and this is one step in that journey.â€
Antonio Thomas completed the day with nine points while Yacine Toumi recorded eight points and a game-high eight boards.
Ball State opened the game with a triple and, following a 0-for-3 start to the afternoon, the Purple Aces got on the board with a Cam Haffner triple. Kenny Strawbridge Jr. forced a turnover and scored to give UE its first lead at 5-3. Trailing 9-7, Joshua Hughes scored the first of his eight first-half points to tie it up and open a 6-0 run that gave UE a 13-9 edge at the 12:07 mark.
Evansville held that lead for the remainder of the game. Strawbridge’s third basket of the period put the Aces up 19-14 inside of the 9-minute mark before two field goals by the Cardinals cut the edge to one a minute later. Over the next four minutes, the defense by the Aces took over, holding Ball State scoreless. Ben Humrichous and Hughes picked up baskets that pushed the lead to a game-high of six points at 24-18.
In the final stretch of the half, BSU made it a one-possession game and that would be the deficit at the break with Evansville holding a 30-27 edge. Hughes led the Aces with eight points while Basheer Jihad posted 14 to pace the Cardinals.
Out of the break, the Aces took full control. The defense held the Cardinals without a point over the first seven minutes of the half while the offense reeled off 17 points in a row. Evansville held Ball State to a 0-for-5 start in the latter half while forcing seven turnovers. Humrichous picked up a 3-pointer before Strawbridge connected on a free throw to establish the first double digit lead of the day at 37-27.
Thomas stepped up in the latter part of the run, scoring two field goals off turnovers with the lead growing to 20 points (47-27) with 13 minutes remaining. With 8:43 left in the game, a triple by Thomas made it a 59-33 game. One of the most impressive parts of that sequence was that the Aces never let up; BSU got as close as 19 points before UE quickly countered.
With 2:19 remaining, the Aces extended the lead to its largest at 29 points (74-45) with BSU scoring the final five points to make it a 74-50 final. For the game, the Aces outshot the Cardinals by a 45.8%-31.4% margin while taking the battle of the boards by a 39-31 margin. Basheer Jihad paced Ball State with 21 points.
Next weekend, UE will be on the road in Chattanooga facing the Mocs on Friday before squaring off against SEMO once again on Saturday.
