Boxscore

A mighty slow start isn't recommended, but the University of Evansville made up for it with 44 points in the second half Wednesday night at Roberts Stadium, and the result was a 64-56 victory over Wichita State.

Both the Aces and Shockers are now 2-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Evansville is 7-15 overall and Wichita State is 9-14.

"I'm proud of our guys for not giving up early," said UE Coach Marty Simmons.  "Instead of thinking, 'We can't win now,' our players made every possession in the second half important and that's why we managed to come back and win."

Evansville trailed 15-3 after missing 14 of its first 15 shots, and still trailed 31-20 at halftime.  But the Aces stayed within striking distance early in the second half, and then went on a 23-2 run midway through the second half, turning a 42-35 Wichita State lead into a 58-44 Evansville lead.  The first nine points in that run included one three-pointer by Shy Ely and two by Jason Holsinger.  Nate Garner chipped in six points and Ely hit his second three-pointer as Evansville made up for all of its first half woes with a strong second half.  UE outscored the Shockers 44-25 in the second half.  

Ely led all scorers with 18 points, scoring 12 points from the free throw line and the other two from three-point range.  Holsinger added 14 and Garner reached double figures for the first time since mid-December with 11 points.  Phillip Thomasson led the Shockers with 11.  Wichita State's 18 turnovers compared to only eight by Evansville left the Aces with nine more shots from the field.