Game Notes
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s basketball team will look for its first road win of the season as it travels to North Carolina to face off against the Tar Heels on Tuesday evening in a 6 p.m. CT tilt which is set to be televised by ESPNU.
The Aces are coming off of a heartbreaking 70-68 overtime loss to TCU that dropped them to 3-3 on the season. The Horned Frogs knocked down a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime before hanging on for the win.
Colt Ryan fell just one point shy of his career high with a 31-point effort against TCU. The junior was 7-17 from the floor while hitting 14 out of 16 free throws. He also led the team with a season-high eight rebounds in the effort. The top scoring output of his career came last season against Illinois State where he tallied 32 points in the final game at Roberts Stadium.
Through six games this season, Ryan has averaged 19.7 PPG, second in the MVC. His work has not gone unnoticed as the junior was named to the league’s November All-Conference Team, as chosen by collegehoops.net. Joining him on the team were Doug McDermott (Creighton), Rayvonte Rice (Drake), Ben Simmons (Drake) and Taylor Brown (Bradley).
Denver Holmes dished out eight assists in the loss to TCU. It marked a career-high for the senior and was also the highest total for an Evansville player this year. The last time anyone from UE eclipsed that mark was last season when Kavon Lacey, currently a graduate assistant with the squad, recorded nine helpers in the home game against Creighton.
After beginning the 2011-12 campaign as the preseason No. 1 team, North Carolina has put forth a 6-2 mark to begin the year. After opening up with wins in its first five games, the Tar Heels dropped a 90-80 decision to UNLV. UNC rebounded with a strong win over top 10 ranked Wisconsin before falling by just a point to top-ranked Kentucky on Saturday.
Harrison Barnes leads UNC with17.3 points per game while John Henson has averaged 14.1 PPG to go along with a team-high 10.5 rebounds per contest. Washington Indiana native Tyler Zeller has averaged a solid 13.4 PPG.
Last year, UNC and Evansville met on December 8 at Roberts Stadium where the Tar Heels took home a 76-49 victory. Tyler Zeller led all players with 18 points while Justin Knox chipped in 13. The Heels held UE without a double-digit scorer while forcing 23 turnovers and committing just 12 of their own.
The action is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT from the Dean Smith Center. Evansville returns home on Saturday to face North Carolina A&T in a doubleheader with the UE women’s team.
