Men’s basketball opens home schedule on Saturday
Aces face Brescia at 1 p.m.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – On Saturday, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team opens its home slate with a contest against Brescia. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast of the 1 p.m. CT contest from the Ford Center.
Last Time Out
– Taking on one of the top mid-major programs over the last handful of seasons, the Purple Aces dropped the season opener to North Texas by a final of 80-63
– Trailing by as many as 29 points, UE stormed back to get within 12 points in the second half, however, the deficit was too much to overcome
– Gabriel Pozzato led all players with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting while Tanner Cuff finished the evening with 11 points
– Cuff added 5 boards and 4 assists
Best Debut?
– In his first official game for the Purple Aces, Gabriel Pozzato turned heads with a 28-point outing at North Texas
– It was the top freshman/newcomer debut in Evansville’s Division I history and was the highest total by a freshman in the MVC in at least the last 20 seasons
– Prior to his effort, the top program debut in the DI era came from Marty Simmons; on 12/1/86, Simmons scored 27 points against Montana State
– Interesting enough – Scott Haffner made his debut that night and finished with 26; DeAndre Williams made his debut in 2019 and scored 26 versus Ball State
– Pozzato converted 10 of his 16 shot attempts while adding three triples, three boards and a block
– In the exhibition game against Tiffin, Pozzato recorded 22 points
Solid Start
– Playing a career-high 34:41, Tanner Cuff scored 11 points in Tuesday’s season opener at North Texas
– Cuff hit 4 of his 6 attempts while adding 5 boards and 4 assists
– He saw action in all 35 games last season and made two starts, but his role is set to grow even more heading into the upcoming campaign
– In his first season with the Purple Aces, Cuff averaged 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game
Returning Experience
– Cam Haffner will be depended on for his experience following his first two collegiate seasons
– In his first season at UE in 2023-24, Haffner finished with 4.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game while making 16 starts and seeing time in all 35 contests
– Haffner averaged 7.6 PPG in the final five games of the regular season while scoring 11 points on two occasions
– The season opener at UNT saw him play a career-high 34:19 while scoring 6 points
Scouting the Opposition
– Brescia opened its season on Oct. 31 with an 83-77 loss to Fisk
– Linkin Lockhart led the way for the Bearcats with 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting while Damian Garcia added 17 points
– Garcia paced Brescia with 8 rebounds while recording a pair of assists
– Last season, Brescia was 8-15 overall while going 6-12 in conference play
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