Games set for Friday and SaturdayÂ
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Looking to continue the best start in six years, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team travels to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Coke Zero Sugar Classic to face Chattanooga and Southeast Missouri State. UE faces the Mocs on Friday before facing SEMO on Saturday; both games tip at 1 p.m. central. The Purple Aces Radio Network will have coverage of both games while ESPN+ will be available for Friday’s opener.
Setting the Scene
– Evansville recorded a 74-50 win over Ball State on Saturday to improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season
– The Purple Aces square off against Chattanooga for the first time in program history as they look to win their fifth in a row
– UTC is also 4-0 with a road win at Louisville highlighting their start
– Both schools are ranked in the Field of 68 Mid-Major Top 25 with UE coming in at 20th and UTC sitting at 21st
Last Time Out
– Up by three points at halftime, the Aces held Ball State scoreless for the first seven minutes of the second half while scoring 17 in a row and cruising to a 74-50 victory
– Evansville led by as many as 29 points in the final minutes
– Kenny Strawbridge Jr. led UE with 13 points and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in his Division I career
– Joshua Hughes and Ben Humrichous recorded 12 points apiece while Yacine Toumi finished with 8 points and 8 boardsÂ
Double Digits
– Ben Humrichous continued his unbelieve start to the season with 12 points against Ball State; he has scored at least 11 in each game and leads the Aces with 14.8 PPG
– He scored 18 in the wins over Miami Ohio and SEMO
– Humrichous’ MVC stat rankings include: blocks (T-6 | 1.75/gm), FG% (8th | 59.5%) and 3-point% (T-10 | 50.0%)
Reaching the Mark
– In the second half of the Nov. 18 win over Ball State, Kenny Strawbridge Jr. reached the 1,000-point mark in his D1 career
– Scoring a season-high 13 points in the victory, Strawbridge pushed his career mark to 1,002 points
– Aside from his scoring, Strawbridge has created major problems for opposing offenses, averaging 3.33 steals per game while setting his career-high with five against Ball State
Turning Some Heads
– Freshman Joshua Hughes is one of the top shot blockers in the MVC and ranks third with 2.25 per contest
– He has posted at least two blocks in all four games while adding at least three boards to average 4.8 per game
– From the field, he is shooting 61.1% and has averaged 7.5 points
– His top efforts of 12 points came against Miami OH and Ball State; in the win over BSU, he hit 5 of his 6 attempts
Looking at the Numbers
– UE has held last three opponents to 57 points or fewer – that happened just twice in the 2022-23 season
– The last three opponents have shot just 31.4%; last two opponents have shot just 37.5% – in 32 games last year, defense held just one opponent under 38%.
– Evansville has outrebounded D1 opponents by 9.0 per game – UE outrebounded just one opponent by more than 6 in all of 2022-23 (+11 at Indiana State)
