UE Men’s Basketball Hosts UNI On Wednesday

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UE Men’s Basketball Hosts UNI On Wednesday

Tip is at 7 p.m. inside Ford Center

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Set to complete the regular season series, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team welcomes Northern Iowa to the Ford Center on Wednesday evening.  Tip is set for 7 p.m. CT with the Purple Aces Radio Network and ESPN+ having the coverage.

Setting the Scene

– On December 3, the teams opened the season series in Cedar Falls with the Panthers 72-55 victory

– After trailing by a 38-20 score at halftime, the Purple Aces outscored the Panthers by a 35-34 margin in the second half

– Kenny Strawbridge Jr. led the Aces with 17 points while UNI saw Bowen Born register 29 points

Last Time Out

– UE led by as many as 10 points in the first half before UIC rallied in the second half to take a 70-61 win on Saturday in Chicago

– In the first half, the Aces jumped out to a 26-16 lead before the Flames countered with a 48-18 stretch to put the game out of reach

– Trailing by 20 with 3:14 remaining, UE rallied to get within nine points

– Strawbridge paced UE with 20 points

Game High

– Kenny Strawbridge Jr. led all players with 20 points in Saturday’s game at UIC

– It marked his first 20-point game since Dec. 21 versus Bellarmine and was his 8th such effort of the season

– Over his last two games, Strawbridge has shot 48.8% while tallying 15 PPG

– In the nine games before, he converted just 36.0% of his attempts (41/114)

– He was 7-for-10 from the field versus Indiana State and has chipped in at least 8 points in 24 out of 25 games

– He continues to lead the Aces while sitting 9th in the MVC with his season average of 15.1 points per game

Another Career Mark

– Hitting 8 out of 16 attempts in the home game against Indiana State, Yacine Toumi registered a career-high 19 points

– Toumi is averaging 13.2 points in his last five games while shooting 44.3% (27/61)

– His 19-point game passes his previous high of 18, which came twice this season (Campbell and Valpo)

– On the boards, Toumi is tied for 12th in the MVC with an average of 6.0 per game

– He has grabbed at least five rebounds in 12 of the last 13 contests while raising his season average from 5.1 to 6.0 per game

– His top tally of 11 came in the win over Bellarmine and had nine at UIC

Scouting the Opponent

– Falling in their last three games, Northern Iowa enters Wednesday’s game with an overall record of 12-12 and a mark of 8-6 in the Valley

– Three Panthers are averaging double figures, led by Bowen Born’s tally of 18.9 point per game

– Born paces the team with 67 assists and a total of 63 3-point makes

– In the first meeting on Dec. 3, Bron led all players with 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting

– Tytan Anderson checks in with 12.5 points and a team-best 9.2 rebounds

– Michael Daux comes into the game with a 10.1 PPG average