Aces face Redhawks on Wednesday
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A trip to Cape Girardeau, Mo. is on tap for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team, who will take on Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday evening in a 6:30 p.m. contest inside the Show Me Center. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.
Last Time Out
– On Saturday, the Purple Aces were able to grind out a 59-51 win over Tennessee Tech at the Ford Center
– UE led by as many as 8 points in the second half before the Golden Eagles stormed back to get within one with 1:50 remaining
– Antoine Smith Jr. connected on a triple that put the UE lead back at four points before the Aces pulled away for the win
– Jawaun Newton and Shamar Givance led the Aces with 15 points and 7 rebounds apiece while Smith and Blake Sisley registered 12 points each
Player of the Week
– For the second time in his career, Shamar Givance was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday following his efforts against SIU and Tennessee Tech
– Grievance went off for 31 points versus the Salukis just three days after posting what was a career mark of 26 at EIU
– He followed that up with a 15-point, 7-rebound tally in the win over the Golden Eagles while adding 3 assists and 3 steals
– The senior is averaging 24 points per game over the last two outings and ranks 9th in the MVC in scoring
– The senior continues to pace the squad in assists and steals…his 3.6 assists/game ranks 7th in the MVC while his average of 1.6 steals is third in the league
Newcomer Award
– Antoine Smith Jr. earned MVC Newcomer of the Week recognition on Nov. 29 and has continued to play well since that time
– After opening the season going 1-for-8 from the field, Smith has converted 28 of his last 47 attempts – 59.6%
– From outside, Smith hit 3 of first 10 attempts but has drained 16 of his last 29
– Smith knocked down 4 out of 6 3-point tries against TTU to improve his season shooting mark to 48.7%, 4th in the MVC
– In four games leading to his Nov. 29 newcomer award, Smith averaged 13.5 points per game and reached double figures on three occasions
Biding his Time
– Freshman Blake Sisley is coming off of his top performance against Tennessee Tech where he knocked down 5 out of 6 attempts (2/3 from outside) on his way to 12 points
– In his first six appearance prior to that game, he scored a total of three points while going 1-for-9 from the field
– Sisley has earned more playing time over the last three games, playing at least 12 minutes on two occasions
Checking all the Boxes
– It has been an unbelievable stretch for Jawaun Newton who has averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last six contests
– He opened the Gulf Coast Showcase with a career-high of 30 points, marking the Aces first such effort since 2019
– It took until his 89th game to record the first double-double of his career, but #2 came just four days later…Newton registered 19 points and 10 boards on Nov. 24 versus Akron and followed that up with 13 points and 12 caroms at EIU
Scouting the Opponent
– Southeast Missouri State comes into Wednesday’s game with an even 4-4 mark after defeating Webster by a final of 76-64 on Saturday
– The win ended a 2-game skid following losses to Montana State and Portland in the Incarnate Word Tournament in San Antonio
– SEMO opened the season with a 99-94 road win at Missouri State
– Eric Reed Jr. leads the Redhawks with 16.3 points per game with Phillip Russell and Chris Harris also recording double figures with 12.1 and 11.1 PPG, respectively
– Nygal Russell has a team-best 6.1 caroms per contest
