Tip set for 1 p.m. inside the Ford Center
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Basketball season officially opens on Saturday when the University of Evansville men’s basketball team welcomes Wabash College to the Ford Center for an exhibition contest. Tip is set for 1 p.m. inside the Ford Center.
Setting the Scene
– Saturday’s game will be the lone exhibition game for the Purple Aces as they prepare for the 2023-24 season
– UE has five returners from last season while bringing in 12 newcomers
– Head coach David Ragland balanced the experience of the incoming players with eight being freshmen, one sophomore, a junior, senior and 5th-year senior
Scouting the Opponent
– Wabash is coming off a strong 21-8 campaign in 2022-23
– The Little Giants return a wealth of experience as 10 of their top 11 scorers from last season are back
– Ahmoni Jones led Wabash in both scoring (16.2 PPG) and rebounding (6.3 RPG) last year
Approaching 1,000
– Returning for his fifth season of college basketball is Kenny Strawbridge Jr.
– Following two seasons at Alabama State, Strawbridge joined the Aces last season and led the squad with 14.4 points per game
– He opens this season with 973 points in his career, just 27 away from reaching the 1,000-point mark
– Strawbridge was named to the MVC Preseason Second Team on October 17
– His top scoring output of last season saw him register 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting versus Fairfield
Best in the Valley
– Completing the 20-game MVC slate with a 44.0% showing from 3-point range, Gage Bobe led the way in the league last year
– He was 2-for-5 from outside in the finale versus Illinois State after going 4-of-7 in the final home game against UIC
– His top career game came at Valpo as he scored 22 points while draining six of his 11 3-point tries and seeing 36:49 of work
– Bobe enters his fifth season with the Aces
Back in the MVC
– Antonio Thomas embarks on his fifth season of college basketball right where it all started – in the MVC
– Thomas opened his career at Bradley where he was part of the 2020 MVC Championship team as a freshman
– Following two seasons with the Braves, Thomas transferred to Kentucky Wesleyan where he spent the last two seasons
– In 2022-23, Thomas averaged 9.8 points and 3.0 rebounds for KWC
