Aces And Panthers Tangle At 1 p.m.
Three of the next four games will take place at home for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team with the stretch beginning on Saturday with a 1 p.m. game against UNI inside the Ford Center. It will be an Orange Out with fans encouraged to wear their orange.
The MVC TV Network and Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast with fans in the Evansville area being able to catch the game on Fox Sports Midwest; for those outsides of the Midwest, the game will be carried on ESPN3.
It will be a reunion weekend with the 1991-92 and 1992-93 NCAA Tournament Teams in attendance. Players from the teams along with head coach Jim Crews will be recognized at halftime. For those who would like the opportunity to catch up with the teams, they will be in the concourse of the Ford Center at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday.
 Setting the Scene Â
– Evansville returns to the Ford Center following a busy week that saw the team take on Valparaiso on Sunday afternoon before taking to the road once again on Wednesday at Illinois State
– While the team continues to search for its first conference victory, the Aces have shown improvement in each game under the leadership of head coach Todd Lickliter
– After shooting 30.2% against Drake, UE has improved to shoot 40.0% at Valparaiso before registering a 47.2% effort against the Redbirds
– From January 8-15, UE was outrebounded by 11.7 per game but over the last four games, UE has finished with the exact number of rebounds as the opposition
– UNI has won the last four meetings in the series and nine of the last 11 games overall against UE; Evansville has performed better at home against the Panthers, winning seven of the last 10 match-ups
Last Time Out
– A late rally by Illinois State saw them take a 77-66 win over the Aces inside Redbird Arena on Wednesday night
– Evansville led for over 14 minutes in the game, including a 37-36 edge at the break, but ISU outscored the Aces by an 18-3 margin over a six-minute stretch on their way to a 77-66 win
– UE got within three tallies at 59-56 when Sam Cunliffe converted a field goal, but the Redbirds quickly rebounded with the big run to put the game out of reach
– Cunliffe was the leading scorer for UE, tallying 15 points while John Hall (13) and K.J. Riley (10) also reached double figures
– Hall had his best game in six weeks, hitting five of his eight attempts including three triples on his way to the 13-point game
– For Cunliffe – he continued to see his overall game evolve, grabbing a season-high nine rebounds
Showing his Accuracy
– Redshirt junior John Hall entered the game at Illinois State mired in an 0-for-15 slump from 3-point range, but his fortunes quickly turned against the Redbirds
– Hall connected on three of his six outside attempts on the way to 13 points – his top scoring effort since Dec. 7 against Miami Ohio
– Over the last two games, Hall has drained 9 of his 16 field goal attempts while averaging 11 points per game
– Evansville’s top rebounder a season ago has worked to regain his touch, hauling in at least three in seven of UE‘s last eight games
Scouting the Opponent
– UNI sits atop the conference standings with an 18-3 record overall and a 7-2 mark over the first half of the conference season
– One of the top offenses in the season – the Panthers are 7th in the nation shooting 48.9% on the season while 3-point shooting is 6th in the NCAA, hitting 39.7% of their attempts
– A.J. Green ranks second in the MVC averaging 19.6 points per game; the sophomore paces the team with 65 assists and ranks fourth in the country hitting 93% (83/89) of his free throw tries
– Trae Berhow averages 14.1 points while Austin Phyfe has posted 10.6 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds
