Aces took first meeting in Carbondale
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Riding its first 3-game Missouri Valley Conference win streak in four years, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team looks to make it four in a row on Wednesday when Southern Illinois comes to town for a 7 p.m. game at the Ford Center. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast.
Last Time Out
– Trailing 74-73 with 1:54 remaining on Sunday at Belmont, the Purple Aces finished the game on a 7-1 run to take an 80-75 victory
– Gabriel Pozzato was the top scorer in the contest with 22 points while Tayshawn Comer finished just behind him with 19
– Connor Turnbull scored a career-high 14 points while Josh Hughes matched his tally with 14
– Tanner Cuff added 6 points and 13 boards
Noting the Week
– Evansville’s victories over Murray State and Belmont put an end to multiple streaks
– The win over Belmont was the first since November of 2015 and ended a 6-game skid against the Bruins
– With the win, UE won its third consecutive Valley win and second road victory in a row
– The last 3-game MVC win streak came between 12/28/20 and 1/9/21 when UE won four in a row
– This marked the first time since 2016 that UE won consecutive MVC road games; UE won its final three league road games that year (Bradley, Drake, Loyola)
Make it Three
– Gabriel Pozzato was named the MVC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season and second week in a row on Monday
– He averaged 25.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while leading UE to a pair of wins
– With his season average of 16.2 PPG, Pozzato is fourth in the MVC
– Averaging 17 points and 6.5 boards against UIC and Valpo, Pozzato earned his second MVC freshman accolade on Jan. 27
– Pozzato has averaged 24 PPG over the last three contests including a career-high 29 points in the win over Murray State
Another Career Game
– Connor Turnbull’s stellar play continued in the win at Belmont as he reset his career scoring mark with 14 points to go along with 6 boards and 4 assists
– Over the last 10 games, Turnbull has posted 9.3 points, 5.4 boards and 2.4 blocks
– He matched his career high with six blocks at Valpo and paces the MVC with 1.78/game; he has a block in 15 of the last 17 contests
– His total of 41 blocks is 26th in the nation while his average is 38th nationally
– Offensively, he has scored eight or more points in 8 of the last 10 games to improve his season average to 6.8 PPG
Scouting the Opponent
– Southern Illinois has won five of its last seven games to improve to 10-13 on the season and 5-7 in MVC play
– On Saturday, SIU dropped a 75-65 home game to Drake; prior to the defeat, the Salukis picked up road victories at UIC and Valparaiso
– Ali Dibba leads a trio of double figure scores for SIU with 16.7 PPG
– Kennard Davis Jr. is averaging 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds while Jarrett Hensley checks in with 11.2 points and a team-high 5.3 caroms per contest
– Davis paces Southern Illinois with 54 assists and 41 triples on the season
