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Less than 48 hours after battling the number one team in the nation, the University of Evansville men's basketball team has to re-focus on a new opponent. The 7-2 Purple Aces host the 5-5 Aggies of North Carolina A&T Saturday at Roberts Stadium at 7:05 CST.
THE TOP 10 THINGS TO KNOW...VS. NORTH CAROLINA A&T DEC. 20
1. This will be the third time that Evansville and North Carolina A&T have played. The first two were at Roberts Stadium in the NCAA College Division Tournament. The Aces beat A&T in the 1959 semifinals, 110-92, and went on to beat Missouri State in the championship for Evansville’s first national title. Evansville also beat the Aggies in the first round of the 1962 tourney, 97-82.
2. It’s a quick turnaround for the Aggies and Aces, both of whom played Thursday night. Evansville played at North Carolina, and North Carolina A&T played at Tulane.
3. The Aces have won all seven home games this season, best since the 2004-05 team won its first eight.
4. At 7-2 overall, the Aces are off to their best start since the 2004-05 team started off 7-2. The last time UE was 8-2 or better was 14 years ago, in 1994-95 when the Aces won nine of their first 11.
5. Evansville has scored 70 points or more in seven of its nine games this season. Last year’s team reached 70 only five times all season.
6. Shy Ely led all scorers at North Carolina with 23 points, seven above his average. It was the first time since mid-January that Ely scored 20 or more in back to back games. Three other Aces surpassed their season scoring averages against North Carolina–Kaylon Williams with nine points, Kavon Lacey with eight, and C.J. Erickson with a career-high six points.
7. Shy Ely is 12 points away from becoming the 43rd player in University of Evansville history to score 1,000 career points. He would become the second active member of Evansville’s 1,000-Point Club. Jason Holsinger is 26th with 1,170.
8. Saturday’s game is the next-to-last non-conference game of the year. The Aces also host an ESPNU Bracketbusters game Feb. 21. The first of 18 Missouri Valley Conference games is Sunday, Dec. 28 at home against defending league champion Drake at 2:05.
9. North Carolina A&T coach Jerry Eaves was a standout at the University of Louisville in the mid-80s. He went on to play for three NBA teams and coach for three others before taking the head coaching job at A&T in 2003. Each of his last two teams has won 15 games, the most wins by the Aggies in the past 11 years.
10. The challenge for Evansville will be to come back mentally sharp on Saturday after playing against the the nation’s #1 ranked team and in front of more than 21,000 fans Thursday at North Carolina. The Aces’ 18-point loss to UNC (91-73) was a smaller margin than Kentucky’s 19-point loss to the Tar Heels (77-58) and Michigan State’s 35-point beating (98-63).
For a complete look at the game notes, click on the Game Notes link on the men's basketball page here at GoPurpleAces.com.
