Aces and Spartans square off at 7 p.m. WednesdayÂ
The Purple Aces men’s basketball team looks to make it seven in a row at the Ford Center on Wednesday evening when the University of Evansville plays host to Norfolk State in a 7 p.m. home matchup.
A dominating effort on Saturday saw the Aces take down Murray State by a final of 78-46. Jaylon Brown was the top scorer in the contest, notching 24 points as he hit 8 shots along with all four 3-pointers and all four free throws. Up 21-17 with 7:34 left in the 1st half, UE finished the opening period on a 25-4 run and never looked back, leading by as many as 34 in the final minute of the game.
The top scorer in the MVC added to his numbers in the last week of action as Jaylon Brown posted an average of 26.5 points per game over the last two contests. Brown began the week by scoring 29 points in the win over the Falcons, hitting 14 out of 15 free throws before totaling a game-high 24 points against Murray State. An unbelievable week has seen Brown hit 5 out of 6 3-pointers and 18-of-19 free throws. Those efforts have vaulted Brown to the top of the MVC in scoring with 20.4 PPG. His 24 points versus the Racers saw him reach the 20-point plateau for the 5th time in the last 8 games.
Redshirt junior Duane Gibson was limited to just four games last season due to injury, but he is starting to find his groove once again. Through the first six games, Gibson averaged just 3.8 points per game and had six steals and 20 helpers. Since then, he has helped UE to a perfect 4-0 mark while notching 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds while notching a total of 10 steals and 18 assists. Included in that total is a 10-point outing against Boise State, his first double digit outing since the 2015 CIT.
For the season, the Aces are allowing the opposition to shoot just 39.1% overall and 28.2% from outside. Their 3-point defense is tops in the league while the overall defense is second. Evansville has not held an opponent to under 40% shooting in a season since 1994-95 when the defense allowed 39.5% of opposing shots to fall. The 3-point defense is on pace to be the best in program history; prior to this year, the lowest percentage allowed by the Aces was 31.6%, also in 1994-95. Through ten games, the top effort a team has had against UE was Middle Tennessee State, who shot 48.1%.
Norfolk State makes their way to the Ford Center for the second season in a row and is currently 2-8 through their first 10 games. The Spartans’ victories have come over Shenandoah and Elizabeth City State, each in November. Jonathan Wade leads the way for NSU, posting an average of 20.4 points per game while also notching 5.8 rebounds per contest. Zaynah Robinson and Jordan Butler average 9.4 and 8.6 points, respectively while their leading rebounder is Alex Long, who checks in with 6.5 boards per contest.
