Evansville heads to Indiana State on Wednesday

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Jaylon Brown scored a game-high 17 points and David Howard added 16, but Phil Fayne led Illinois State with 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Redbirds grabbed a 69-59 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Sunday afternoon at the Ford Center.

Brown hit seven shots on the day and recorded three assists for the Purple Aces (10-13, 1-9 MVC).  Howard matched his career-high with his 16 tallies, tying his mark set in 2014 against IUPUI.  He was a solid 6-of-7 from the field.

Illinois State (18-4, 10-0 MVC) saw four players record double figures, led by Fayne’s double-double.  Paris Lee notched 15 points while Deontae Hawkins and Keyshawn Evans had 11 apiece.

“I am disappointed in the way we started the game and dug ourselves a hole right out of the gate, but we were able to battle back,” Aces head coach Marty Simmons said.  “Give Illinois State credit, they were really able to capitalize on our mistakes.”

In the opening moments of the game, it was all Redbirds as the scooted out to a 20-6 lead over the first nine minutes of the game.  Paris Lee opened it up with a triple before Ryan Taylor countered to tie it up in the first minute.  From there, ISU went on a 17-3 stretch to open up the lead.

Despite the rough start, UE fought back as a 14-0 run made it a one-possession game.  David Howard had five points in the rally as UE made it a 20-17 game with 7:27 left in the half.  An 8-3 run saw ISU go back up by a 28-20 margin, but a Duane Gibson free throw with 2:24 on the clock got the Aces with a point at 29-28 before the Redbirds headed to halftime up 33-30.

Howard hit a pair of buckets in the first minute of the second half before a bucket by Jaylon Brown gave UE its first lead of the day at 36-35.  The lead was short-lived as ISU countered with a 13-4 stretch to push the lead back to 10 at 48-38 just minutes later.

Evansville continued to stay within striking distance as Brown connected on a free throw with just under six minutes remaining to get UE back within four at 55-51, but the Redbirds had the answer as they were able to pull away and take the 69-59 victory.

ISU shot 48.9% on the day and hit 18 free throws.  Evansville finished the day shooting 37.6% while finishing with a 36-26 edge in points in the paint.

Next up for UE is the quick trip up Highway 41 to Terre Haute as they face Indiana State on Wednesday evening.  Tip is slated for 7 p.m. ET at the Hulman Center.