Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Junior Colt Ryan had a career night, scoring a personal-best 39 points as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team picked up a 90-67 victory over Bradley on Wednesday evening at the Ford Center.
 
Ryan set career highs in scoring (39 points), field goals (12) and three-pointers (8) while tying his high in rebounds with nine.  He fell just short of being the first UE player with 40 points since Parrish Casebier notched 44 against Illinois State in December of 1992.
 
“It feels good just coming out of here with a win,” Ryan commented after the game.  “We regrouped after last week and our work is starting to pay off.”
 
Ned Cox finished with 16 points while Ryan Sawvell chipped in 12 and Kenneth Harris tallied 11.
 
Ryan began the game with a three-pointer on UE’s (9-9, 4-4 MVC) opening possession before Bradley (6-14, 1-7 MVC) came back to take a 6-5 lead on the strength of two Dyricus Simms-Edwards free throws just past the three-minute mark.  Ryan along with fellow junior Ned Cox sent the Aces on a 12-2 run giving them their largest lead to that point.  Cox scored five points while Ryan hit a pair of treys.
 
With Evansville up 27-17, Troy Taylor got called for a personal and technical foul, sending Taylor Brown to the line where he made all four free throws to cut the BU deficit to six.  The play riled up the Aces, who would score the next 17 points to more than double up the Braves at 44-21.  Ryan continued his sharp shooting, scoring nine in a row before Jordan Nelson made it a 12-0 run with a trey at the 4:15 mark.
 
Ryan and Cox capped off the stretch to put the Aces up 44-21.  With 1:34 remaining in the half, Brown knocked down three free throws to end a five-minute drought.  Ryan made it 25 for the half with a bucket, outscoring the Braves on his own.  He hit 9-of-16 field goals while tallying five treys.  Taylor, who set a career mark with 14 rebounds on Sunday at Missouri State, notched ten in the first half alone.
 
Evansville’s onslaught continued in the second half, with their lead growing to as many as 30 points (58-28) with 16:43 left in the contest.  Kenneth Harris notched five points in the run.  Later, a layup by Ryan Sawvell saw UE’s advantage grow to 34 points, 81-47, with eight minutes left before UE settled for the 23-point win.
 
The Aces dominated all facets of the game, shooting 50.8% while holding the Braves to 43.2%.  UE also finished with a 36-27 advantage on the boards, its second-highest edge of the season.  Almost a third of those rebounds came from Troy Taylor, who followed up a 14-rebound performance at Missouri State with 10 on Wednesday.  He also dished out a game-high eight assists.  As a team, Evansville had 26 assists.  That marked the highest total of the Marty Simmons era.
 
Jake Eastman led the Braves with 16 points as he connected on four out of eight three-pointers.  Jordan Prosser finished with 12.
 
Illinois State comes to town on Saturday evening as the Aces will look to avenge a 75-73 loss in Normal on January 7.  The Aces and Redbirds will tip at 7:05 p.m. inside the Ford Center.  On January 25, Evansville will be back on the road, traveling to Wichita State.