Aces face Sycamores in road contest

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Another road game is on tap for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team with the Purple Aces heading to Terre Haute for a 6 p.m. CT game against Indiana State on Wednesday evening at the Hulman Center.  ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.

Season Update

– 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

– Indiana State evened its MVC mark at 1-1 with a 76-71 win over Bradley on Sunday as their overall season record stands at 8-6

– Four Sycamores average double figures with Cooper Neese leading the way with 16.3 points per game

– Neese is a 42.8% shooter from the field and has converted 81.1% of his free throw tries

– Cameron Henry sits at 14.1 PPG while Micah Thomas and Xavier Bledson average 12.4 and 12.1 points, respectively

– On the boards, it is Henry tallying an average of 6.3 caroms to lead the squad

– Matthew Graves, who was a player at Butler for Todd Lickliter and an assistant coach at UE in 2018-19, is currently the Associate Head Coach at ISU