Riley is the 50th member of UE’s 1,000-point club
 CARBONDALE, Ill. – K.J. Riley became the 50th player in University of Evansville men’s basketball history to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career on Thursday in a 70-53 loss to Southern Illinois inside the Banterra Center.
Riley led the Purple Aces (9-19, 0-15 MVC) with 10 points while Sam Cunliffe and DeAndre Williams finished with eight apiece. Williams led UE with seven boards in his return. Marcus Domask led the Salukis (16-12, 10-5 MVC) with 19 points and seven boards. Eric McGill scored 18 while Lance Jones had 15.
“We tried to generate good shots.  If they do not go down, you have to guard very well and we were unable to do that,†UE head coach Todd Lickliter said. “I need to look at the schemes and see what we could have done different. It was good to have DeAndre back tonight; it will take some time to get his rhythm back, but we are excited to have him on the floor.â€
Williams made his return to the starting lineup after missing 12 games due to injury, but picked up two fouls in the opening two minutes while seeing five minutes of action in the opening 20 minutes. Jawaun Newton got the scoring started with a putback before SIU rattled off five in a row.
In a competitive opening half that featured 13 lead changes, the Aces and Salukis did not let the other get too far in front with SIU being the first to lead by more than a possession. With just under six minutes left in the half, a free throw from Eric McGill pushed their lead to 27-22. Evansville pushed right back, utilizing an 11-5 run to go back in front with 2:25 on the clock. In that stretch, K.J. Riley connected on his third field goal of the night to reach the 1,000-point mark.
Shamar Givance gave UE its first lead of more than one possession when his trey in the final two minutes gave his squad a 36-32 edge. Southern Illinois rallied one more time, posting the final five points of the half to take a 40-37 lead into the break.
Held scoreless in the first half, Williams knocked down his first shot of the second half to cut the SIU lead to 42-39. Fouls plagued the sophomore again, though, as he picked up two more fouls in the first 93 seconds. The Salukis defense stood tall over the next sequence, holding Evansville to 1-of-9 shooting and three turnovers over the next six minutes. A 7-2 run gave them their largest lead at 49-41 inside of the 14-minute mark.
Noah Frederking ended the drought, connecting on a triple before a John Hall basket got UE right back within three – 49-46 – with 11 minutes on the clock. Despite the Evansville rally, Southern Illinois gradually added to their lead. An 8-1 stretch by the Salukis gave them their first 10-point lead of the contest (57-47) with 5:30 remaining. Another defensive stretch saw them hold UE to 1-of-12 from the field.
Following two Williams free throws, SIU added a 9-0 stretch to put the game out of reach and would finish the evening with the 70-53 victory. After shooting 75% in the first half of play, the Salukis finished the game at 65.8%. Evansville had the rebounding advantage by a 27-26 final.
Just two more home games remain in the 2019-20 season with Indiana State making its way to the Ford Center on Sunday for a 1 p.m. game. Following a trip to UNI on 2/26, the Aces host Illinois State for Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 29 in another 1 p.m. match-up
