EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In its final home game of the Cancun Challenge, the University of Evansville men's basketball team will face Binghamton on Saturday at the Ford Center in a 3 p.m. contest.
UE led wire-to-wire on Thursday in a 66-50 win over Southeast Missouri State, going up by as many as 26 points before finishing off with the 16-point win. Ryan Taylor and Dru Smith paved the way, tying for the game high with 17 points.
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Over the first three games, the defense of the Purple Aces has excelled, holding opponents to just 56 points per game. The last time UE has gotten off to that good of a start came in 2008-09 when the team held its first three opponents to 54 PPG. Turnovers have been the primary difference as the Aces have forced the opposition into 60 turnovers (20/game) while turning it over on just 35 occasions (11.7/game).
Evansville's tenure in the 2017 Cancun Challenge started on Thursday with the SEMO contest and continues today against Binghamton. On Sunday, UE heads to Cancun where it will play Fresno State on Tuesday before facing either George Mason or Louisiana Tech on Wednesday night.
Dru Smith dished out a career-high 11 assists on Monday against NC Central and followed that up with nine more helpers against SEMO. Smith's 20 assists marks the most in a two game span since Duane Gibson had 21 in a pair of 2013 contests versus Valparaiso and Anderson. In Thursday's win, Smith had a season-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting; it was just two points shy of his career mark of 19 points, set last season at Wichita State. For the season, Smith has posted 22 assists against just seven turnovers.
Evansville has won 24 non-conference home games in a row, dating back to December of 2014 and includes a 3-0 mark in the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Despite going 4-for-18 from the field, Ryan Taylor finished Thursday's game with 17 points and took the MVC scoring lead with 23 points per game. Taylor hit all six free throw attempts against the Redhawks and is shooting 88.0% (22/25) from the line this season. Last year, Taylor got to the line 92 times in 33 games. With 69 points in three games, Taylor is on the best stretch of his career; last year he had a similar 3-game run where he posted 68 tallies.
Binghamton comes into Saturday's tilt with a 1-2 mark after dropping a 69-57 game on Thursday at George Mason. Thomas Bruce leads the Bearcats with 17 points and 10.3 rebounds per game; he has also posted 10 blocks in three games. J.C. Show checks in with 13 points per game and hit that mark on the dot on Thursday, leading the Bearcats with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
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