University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball could not get on track offensively in the second half and lost to the University of Missouri-St. Louis, 73-61, Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri. The Screaming Eagles go to 9-4 overall and 1-2 in the GLVC, while the Tritons are 11-3, 2-2 GLVC.

The Eagles started slow as the Tritons jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the first nine minutes of the opening half. USI rebounded with a 15-2 run to take a brief 24-22 lead on a pair of free throws by senior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) with 4:53 left before the intermission. Stein and sophomore forward Josh Price (Indianapolis, Indiana) led the Eagles during the run with four points each.

USI and UMSL would trade leads through the final minutes of the first half with the Tritons taking a five-point lead, 36-31, into the intermission on a 5-0 run. Stein was the only Eagle to get into double-digits by halftime with 11 points.

The Tritons took command at the 15:33 mark of the second half when they exploded on a 12-2 run to lead by 12 points, 53-41. USI rallied to get within six points down the stretch, 60-54, with 4:29 left, but that would be as close as the Eagles would come the rest of the way in the 73-61 loss.

USI was stymied from the field today by UMSL, shooting 34.8 percent for the game (19-55), 30.8 percent (8-26) in the second half. The Eagles, however, did the job on the glass, outrebounding the Triton, 37-35.

Individually, Stein led five players in double-figures with 17 points. Junior guard/forward Kobe Caldwell(Bowling Green, Kentucky) and sophomore guard Mateo Rivera (Indianapolis, Indiana) followed with 11 points each, while Price and sophomore forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each.

The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the Physical Activities Center next week to start a two-game GLVC homestand. USI is slated to play Truman State University Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Quincy University Saturday at 3:15 p.m. Game coverage information for USI Men’s Basketball can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.

Aces drop 58-46 decision to Redbirds

Sophomore Evan Kuhlman scored a career-high 14 points while Marty Hill matched that mark as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team dropped a 58-46 game to Illinois State on Saturday afternoon inside Redbird Arena.

The effort for Kuhlman eclipsed his previous mark of 12 points, which came at Xavier earlier this season.  He was 4-8 from the field and 3-6 from long range.  Hill knocked down six buckets and a pair of triples for the Aces (7-8, 1-1 MVC).  Phil Fayne scored a game-high 20 points to pace Illinois State (8-7, 1-1 MVC).

“I thought we did pretty well today in some ways, but we turned the ball over too much and could not get in a nice rhythm,” Aces head coach Walter McCarty said.  “We had a lot of opportunities to shoot the basketball, but just did not make shots.”

John Hall gave Evansville its first lead of the day when his triple gave UE a 7-4 lead three minutes in.  Marty Hill made it 2-for-2 from outside to start the game when his three pushed the lead to 10-6.  The Aces were scoreless for six minutes, going 0-5 with five turnovers in that span.  Shea Feehan got UE back on track when his layup cut the ISU lead to 13-12 midway through the half.

Evan Kuhlman knocked down a triple with 6:06 on the clock to get UE within a possession (17-15) before Illinois State reeled off the next four to take their largest lead at 21-15 with under five minutes remaining.  Hill and K.J. Riley hit buckets in the final minutes to make it a 23-19 game in favor of the Redbirds at the break.

Kuhlman was true from outside for the second time in the game to get UE on the board in the second half to cut the ISU lead to a pair at 24-22.  On the next possession, the Aces had a chance to take the lead but a triple spun around the rim before going out.  ISU took advantage, posting the next five to open up a 29-22 lead three minutes in.

Evansville was 1-for-8 from the field to begin the final half, but Marty Hill scored on a nice feed from Kuhlman to cut the gap to five once again.  A few possessions later, Riley attacked the basket with his second field goal of the day to make it a one-possession game at 31-28.  After two ISU buckets, Kuhlman continued his solid day, getting fouled on a 3-point attempt before converting all three free throw attempts to make it a 35-31 game with under 12 minutes left in the game.

The Aces continued to fight back as Kuhlman reached his career scoring high when his 13^th point cut the gap to a pair – 35-33 – near the midway point of the half.  Just as fast as UE got within a possession, Illinois State responded with a 7-0 run that gave them their largest lead at 42-34.  Hill was the hero on the other end, nailing his second 3-pointer to end the run.

ISU quickly rebounded, extending their lead to 11 with six minutes left.  An 11-2 run saw them put the game out of reach, going up 54-39 with three minutes left before winning by a final of 58-46.

Both defenses played outstanding as the Aces held ISU to 39% shooting and Evansville finished the game shooting 32.7%. Hall was the leading rebounder for UE, hauling in eight.  UE was on the losing end of the rebounding battle by a 39-35 final.

On Tuesday, UE welcomes Loyola to the Ford Center in a 7 p.m. game before hosting Indiana State on Saturday, January 12 at 1 p.m.