Aces and Ramblers tangle in midweek contest

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With a rare January off weekend complete, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team returns to the Ford Center on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game against Loyola.  The MVC TV Network, ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.

Season Update

– The MVC recently announced make-up dates for games that have been postponed

– On Jan. 21, UE travels to Illinois State for a 6 p.m. game before ISU returns the trip two days later in a 1 p.m. game at the Ford Center

– Evansville will play Indiana State in Terre Haute on Feb. 8 before the Sycamores come to Evansville on the 10th

– 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

– An extended second-half run lifted Bradley to a 79-47 win over the Purple Aces on Wednesday night in Peoria

– Trailing by 12 at the half, Evansville made it a 38-31 game in the opening minutes of the second period before the Braves were able to regroup and pull away

– Jawaun Newton and Shamar Givance led UE with 16 points apiece…Newton added eight rebounds while Givance picked up two assists

– Preston Phillips set career highs in rebounds (9) and minutes (30:32)

Still Going Strong

– Shamar Givance scored 16 points at Bradley to improve his season average to 14.7 points per game, which ranks 8th in the MVC

– Givance is alone in 6th in the league with his mark of 3.7 assists per game while tying for 6th in steals (1.4/game)

– He continues to score at the top rate of his career, recording an average of 18.3 points over the last seven contests, including his career high of 31 against SIU…since opening with seven points against Cincinnati in the season opener, he has averaged 15.4 points while scoring at least 11 in all but two games since

Making a Contribution

– Freshman Preston Phillips has started the last two games and a total of four contests on the season

– He is coming off of a strong performance at Bradley that saw him set his freshman marks in rebounds (9) and minutes played (30:32)

– Phillips has been credited with 2+ rebounds in each game that he has played in and is averaging 3.8 per game for the year

– His top scoring mark came at SEMO where he finished with 5 points while registering 5 boards

– Averaging 17.5 minutes per game, Phillips has played at least 15 minutes in four consecutive outings

Clamping Down

– Through six homes games, the UE defense has shined, allowing the opposition to score an average of just 56.33 points per game…just one opponent has scored over 60 points at the Ford Center this season with UCF finishing with 75 on Nov. 20

– In nine road/neutral site games, the opposition has averaged 74.8 PPG

Scouting the Opponent

– Winners of nine games in a row, Loyola enters Tuesday’s game with a 13-2 overall mark while standing at a perfect 4-0 in the Valley

– Two of the Ramblers last three games have gone to overtime with home contests versus Bradley and Valparaiso going to an extra period with Loyola winning on both occasions

– Lucas Williamson leads the Ramblers with 12.3 points per game and an average of 5.1 rebounds

– He is tied for the team lead with 32 3-pointers while pacing the squad with 20 steals

– Coming off the bench, Ryan Schwieger has recorded 11.4 PPG while shooting 48.8%

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball could not hang onto a double-digit first half lead and fell to McKendree University, 77-71, Monday evening in Screaming Eagles Arena. USI goes to 7-4 overall and 2-3 in the GLVC, while McKendree is 7-4 overall, 3-4 in the league.
 
After spotting the Bearcats the opening three-point bucket, the Eagles used a 10-0 run to take control of the early going, 10-3. Junior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) got the run going with a thunderous dunk, while freshman guard Isaiah Stafford (Bolingbrook, Illinois) capped off the run with a jumper near the basket.
 
USI continued to build the lead and momentum, extending the margin to nine points, 23-14, with eight minutes left in the half. The lead would go to as many as 12 points (38-26) before USI ended the opening 20 minutes with a 38-28 margin.
 
Eagles’ sophomore guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) and Polakovich reached double-digits before the intermission with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.
 
The second half opened with McKendree posting a 15-3 run to get the lead at 43-41 before six minutes were gone. The Bearcats, who would lead by as many as eight points in the final 20 minutes, held onto the advantage until the Eagles put together a 13-7 surge to retake the lead, 60-59, when Polakovich slammed home a dunk with 5:30 to play.
 
The Eagles and the Bearcats would trade the baskets and the lead twice before McKendree went on a 16-9 outburst in the final four minutes to capture the game, 77-71.
 
USI, which was 12-of-22 as a team from the free throw line in the game, had three players reach double-digits in scoring. Henry and freshman guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) led the Eagles with 19 points each.
 
Henry, who added eight points in the second half, was seven-of-16 from the field, including a three-pointer, and four-of-six from the line. Swope, who led the Eagles with 15 second half points and tied a season-high with six assists in the contest, was eight-of-17 from the field, including a pair from downtown, and one-of-two from the stripe.
 
Polakovich recorded his fifth double-double of the season, all coming in the last seven games. He rounded out the USI double-digit scorers with 17 points on a blistering seven of eight from the field and three-of-seven from the free throw line. The junior forward completed his double-double with 12 rebounds, nine on the defensive end.