Aces and Beacons tip off at 3 p.m.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Looking to win three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference games for the first time in three years, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will be at Valparaiso on Saturday. Tip is set for 3 p.m. CT with ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network having the coverage.
Last Time Out
– Overcoming a hot start and second-half rally by UIC, the Purple Aces earned a 77-60 win on Wednesday at the Ford Center
– UE led by seven at the break, but the Flames stormed back to take a 46-45 lead
– The difference was a 14-2 run by the Aces as they led for the remainder of the contest
– Yacine Toumi set a new career mark wtih 22 points; he was 8-of-10 from the field and registered 7 rebounds
– Tanner Cuff also finished with a career mark, totaling 16 points
– Making his return after missing three games was Ben Humrichous; he scored 15 points and tallied 5 boards and 4 assists
– The defense for UE allowed UIC to hit 4 of their first 5 3-pointers, but rebounded to connect on 4 of their final 27 outside tries
 Hitting the Reset Button
– After scoring 20 points on three occasions in his UE career, Yacine Toumi reset his high with 22 points against UIC
– Hitting 8 of his 10 shots, he improved his season shooting to 58.7%, 5th in the MVC
– Over the last 14 games, Toumi has averaged 13.9 points per game (195 total), raising his average from 8.8 to 12.0 PPG
– Toumi has scored 13+ points in each of the last five games
– He scored his prior mark of 20 points on three occasions, including games against SEMO and UNI this season
– Over the last 11 games, Toumi has hauled in 81 boards, an average of 7.4/game
– Toumi posted a career-best 12 boards versus Missouri State and is 8th in the MVC with a season mark of 6.6
Back on the Floor
– Ben Humrichous was back on the floor against UIC after missing the previous 3 games and 8 of the prior 9
– His presence was immediately felt as he finished with 15 points, 5 boards and 4 assists in 16:30 of work
– Humrichous made an appearance on Jan. 17 against Valpo and totaled 7 points in just under 12 minutes of play
Make it Three
– Tanner Cuff’s recent surge continued as he scored a career-high 16 points in the win over UIC; he has now reached double figures in three consecutive games, posting 13 PPG over that stretch
– Cuff scored 13 at UNI before tallying 10 against Illinois State; in the six games prior to the road tilt in Cedar Falls, he averaged 5.0 PPG and did not reach double figures
– Over the last 5 games, Cuff has 10 assists and just 3 turnovers; the 6 games prior saw him post 6 assists and 10 turnovers
– Cuff’s season assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.42 is second in the MVC
Scouting the Opponent
– The Beacons enter Saturday’s contest with a 6-16 record and stand at 2-9 in the MVC
– Since earning an 84-77 win over UIC on Jan. 20, Valparaiso has dropped its last three games, including an 81-70 game at Drake on Wednesday
– Isaiah Stafford leads the way for Valpo with 17.5 points per game
– He has a team-high 30 steals on the season while seeing an average of 30.8 minutes per game
– Stafford went off for 31 points in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 17
– Cooper Schwieger holds an 11.4 PPG average while pacing the team with 5.7 rebounds
