Game time is 6 p.m. at the Ford Center.

Just three more home games remain for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team, who opens the week on Wednesday with a 6 p.m. home game against Missouri State.  The game will be available on ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network presented by Learfield.

Setting the Scene

– UE is in search of its fifth home win in a row over the Bears; overall the Purple Aces are 7-1 in the last eight home meetings against MSU

– Evansville has dropped five of its last six games including a 78-73 loss at SIU on Saturday

– This season, UE is 9-4 at the Ford Center and picked up a 64-53 win over Valparaiso in its last home game on February 2

Last Time Out

– Southern Illinois picked up a 78-73 win over the Aces on Saturday; SIU led by as many as 12 in the final minutes before UE rallied to get within three with just under 20 seconds remaining

– The teams swapped the lead six times in the first half, but a triple at the buzzer gave SIU a 35-30 halftime lead and they did not look back

– Both squads shot 47.3% in the game, but each SIU starter scored at least 12 points and the starting five combined for 25 free throw tries

Takeaways from Southern Illinois

– Dainius Chatkevicius scored a career-high 13 points; over the last two games, Chatkevicius has averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while going 10/16 from the field

– Chatkevicius posted the second double-double of his career as he added 10 rebounds

– Making his second start, Shamar Givance finished with 9 points and a career-high 6 assists; he also had his top season tally of 25 minutes played

– Leading the squad was Marty Hill, who recorded 20 points; he was 4-of-5 from long range

Turning the Corner

– Freshman Shamar Givance made his second start of the season at Southern Illinois and played a season-high of 25 minutes

– In the seven games this season where Givance has played over 20 minutes, he is averaging 6.7 points per game; in contests where he plays 20 or fewer minutes, he has averaged 4.4 points

– He has excelled from outside, hitting 6 of his last 9 tries from long range.

– Through his first seven MVC outings, Givance averaged just 2.9 points per game and 14.3 minutes while shooting 23.5%

– In his last five contests, Givance has rebounded in a major way, posting 6.6 points in 19.6 minutes per game while shooting 52.2%.

Finishing on a High Note

– Dainius Chatkevicius had the best week of his Evansville career, averaging 12.5 points per game including a career-high of 13 points at Southern Illinois

– Chatkevicius hit 10 out of 16 field goal tries and chipped in 8.0 rebounds per contest; he began the week by tying his career mark of 12 points in the game at Indiana State

– Chatkevicius recorded 10 rebounds at SIU on the way to his second career double-double.