Game Came Together With Other Cancellations
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In a unique turn of events, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will now be home on Saturday for a 4 p.m. game against Drake inside the Ford Center. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.
Season Update
– Three separate schedule changes in the last three days alone have changed the look of UE’s slate over the next few weeks
– UE’s game on Wednesday at Indiana State was postponed along with a scheduled trip to Illinois State on Jan. 9
– The Aces will now take on Illinois State at home on Sunday, Jan. 23
– After two cancellations due to COVID, UE played its first game in 25 days on January 2 at UNI
– The Purple Aces played 12 games over the course of 30 days to open the year, but went 25 days in between the 12/8 game at SEMO and the 1/2 contest at UNI
Last Time Out
– Making his first UE start, Blaise Beauchamp scored a team-high 14 points in an 83-61 loss at UNI on Sunday
– Beauchamp’s career game saw him knock down four triples while playing his top total of over 28 minutes…in the opening minutes, his back-to-back triples put UE in front at 8-5 before the Panthers retook the lead
– Evan Kuhlman had his top performance in over a month, recording 12 points while hitting 4 of his 6 shot attempts
– Jawaun Newton added 11 points while Shamar Givance had 7 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds
Home Cooking
– The January 2 contest at UNI was a special one for Blaise Beauchamp, who made his first start just a handful of hours from his home town of Minnetonka, Minnesota
– He finished the contest with a career-high 14 points while playing his top total of 28:45
– His total at UNI marked the fifth double digit game of the season and second in a row after scoring 11 at SEMO
– Over the course of the last four games, he 9 of his 21 3-point attempts
– Prior to his 14-point game in Cedar Falls, his top scoring mark came against IUPUI and at EIU where he registered 12 points while he opened the season with 11 at Cincinnati
Battling Back
– In his final four games of the 2021 calendar year, Evan Kuhlman battled a mild injury and scored a total of three points while going 1-for-13 from the field
– The layoff between 12/8 and 1/2 helped Kuhlman, who posted 12 points at UNI on 4-of-6 shooting…it was his first double figure game since recording 10 against Rice in the Gulf Coast Showcase
– After reaching double figures in the final six games last spring, Kuhlman has done so in five games thus far (11 out of 17 overall) – the top streak of his career
Scouting the Opponent
– Drake makes the trek to the Ford Center sporting a 10-5 overall mark while splitting their opening two conference games
– Last time out, the Bulldogs dropped a 61-56 decision at Missouri State on January 2
– Freshman Tucker DeVries paces the team with 12.9 points per game while adding a team-best 12 blocks
– DeVries, son of head coach Darian DeVries, has notched 4.6 rebounds per game to go along with a total of 26 assists and 15 steals
– Tremell Murphy checks in with 10.4 points per contest and 5.4 caroms
– Their top rebounder is Garrett Sturtz, who has 7.0 per game
