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Coming off its biggest win since last February, the University of Evansville basketball team makes its first trip to the Air Force Academy for Sunday's 2:00 CST game against the Falcons. Evansville is coming off a 71-68 overtime victory at 23rd ranked Butler last Saturday.
•It’s Missouri Valley Conference/Mountain West Conference ‘Challenge Series’ week. All nine MWC teams take on nine of the 10 MVC teams this week for the second year in a row. Last year, the MVC came out on top, 5-4, but the MVC is already down 4-0 following Wednesday’s games (BYU over Creighton, UNLV over Illinois State, Colorado State over Drake, New Mexico over Southern Illinois). Four more take place Saturday (Indiana State at Wyoming, Northern Iowa at TCU, Utah at Bradley, Wichita State at San Diego State) followed by the UE-Air Force game Sunday.
•The only previous game between Evansville and Air Force was an 81-63 Aces’ victory in the first round of the Evansville Holiday Invitational on Dec. 29, 1976. That was Evansville’s final year at the NCAA Division II level.
•Two Aces have Colorado connections. Freshman Jordan Jahr attended Air Force Academy Prep in Colorado Springs last year, and junior Matt Peeler played the past two years at Otero Junior College in southern Colorado.
•The Falcons of Air Force are 4-1 and winners of three straight. Since losing to Division III Colorado College, Air Force has beaten Tennessee State at home, defending Southern Conference champion Wofford on the road, and Cal State Northridge at home Thursday, 72-63. Tom Fow, a 6’6” senior, scored 22 points and 6’2” sophomore Todd Fletcher added 15. The Falcons are shooting 48 percent as a team and holding the opposition to 34 percent shooting. Four players are averaging in double figures, led by Fow at 17.6 per game.
•Evansville has now beaten the last two Top 25 teams that it has faced. The Aces beat 22nd ranked UNI 55-54 last Feb. 23 on Senior Night at Roberts Stadium, and knocked off 23rd ranked Butler on the road Saturday, 71-68 in overtime. The Aces let a pair of six-point halftime leads slip away in their two previous road games this season. Against Butler, Evansville trailed by seven at halftime, but Kenneth Harris scored 12 points in the second half and Colt Ryan added 10 second half points to lead the come-from-behind victory.
•The last time Evansville won consecutive road games was the Missouri Valley Conference championship season of 1998-99. In the 11-plus seasons since then, the Aces have won 26 road games but never two in a row.
•Colt Ryan was chosen Monday as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week. Ryan scored 45 points in the two games last week, including 31 at Middle Tennessee to tie his career high. He helped ignite Evansville’s second half comeback at Butler with 10 points in the second half. He also had four assists in each game.
•Ryan is now 13-for-25 in three-point shooting. The 13 threes are one more than the rest of the team combined.
•Although he hasn’t won the honor yet, Kenneth Harris has been UE’s MVC Newcomer of the Week candidate three consecutive weeks. Harris totaled 13 points and six rebounds at Middle Tennessee, followed by 17 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 71-68 win over 23rd ranked Butler. He scored nine straight Evansville points to take the Aces from a 47-45 deficit to a 54-49 lead in the final seven minutes of regulation at Butler.
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