Boxscore

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Colt Ryan kept the University of Evansville in the hunt for 30 minutes, but Middle Tennessee's size made the difference here Wednesday night.  Up by nine late in the first half, the Aces  (2-2) couldn't stop MTSU's big players late in the game and the result was an 82-70 victory by the Blue Raiders (3-3).

Ryan tied his career high with 31 points, including 23 in the first half when he hit nine of 13 shots, including five of seven three-pointers. As a result, the Aces led by as many as nine points at 36-27 and took a 36-30 lead into halftime.  But the second half belonged to Middle Tennessee, and especially the Blue Raiders' frontcourt.  MTSU got 14 points and nine rebounds from 6'9" Trevor Ottley, 12 points from 6'9" Trevor Charles, 11 from 6'8" Kyle Hunt and 10 from 6'6" Jason Jones.  Guard Rod Emanuel also added 15 points and hit all three of Middle Tennessee's three-pointers.  The Raiders ended up with a 40-26 rebounding advantage.

A four-point play by Ryan with 11:15 remaining brought the Aces to within one point at 55-54, but the Blue Raiders went on a 14-1 run over the next five minutes to go up 69-55.

"We did a lot of good things in the first half, but we have to sustain that same aggressiveness for the entire game," said coach Marty Simmons.  "They (MTSU) had some depth up front, and that made a difference.  They played a 1-3-1 zone against us in the second half and it was effective, but we have to stay aggressive and attack it better than we did."

Ryan ended up with 11 field goals in 19 attempts, including 6-for-10 from behind the arc. Kenneth Harris was the other UE player in double figures, with 13 points.  He also led the Aces with six rebounds.

Evansville plays its third straight road game Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis against 2010 NCAA Tournament runnerup Butler.  Game time is 1:05 CST.