Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Five University of Evansville players reached double figures as the Purple Aces made it three-straight MVC wins with a 79-71 triumph over Illinois State at the Ford Center on Saturday evening.
 
Colt Ryan notched his seventh 20-point outing in nine MVC games with 20 while Ned Cox chipped in 16.  Kenneth Harris and Denver Holmes notched 14 apiece while Troy Taylor continued his recent streak with 11 points and nine boards.  Taylor has recorded 11 or more points in three of the last five games and has hauled in nine or more rebounds in four of his last five outings.
 
A barrage of three-pointers dominated the early part of the game as the two squads combined to hit four three pointers in the first five minutes to make it a 10-10 game at that point.  Five points in a row from Denver Holmes helped UE take a 15-14 advantage midway through the first half before a 10-0 run helped UE take the take its first double figure lead at 25-14.
 
A three-point play by Troy Taylor began the run before an alley-oop by Kenneth Harris got the crowd on its feet.  Colt Ryan hit a trey to keep the stretch going before a pair of Harris free throws capped off the run.  Illinois State fought its way back into the game, scoring eight of the next ten points to get within five, 27-22, with 4:37 remaining in the half.  Nic Moore recorded a three and a layup in the run.
 
Evansville fought right back, going on an 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the game of 38-24 with just over two minutes left in the period.  Five different Aces found their way onto the scoresheet over that two-minute stretch.  Two Ryan free throws with 16 seconds left gave UE a 15-point lead (42-27) heading into the locker room. 
 
After wrapping up the first half on a 15-5 run, the Purple Aces came out firing in the second half, outscoring the Redbirds by an 8-2 margin in the opening two minutes of the period to extend its lead to 21 points.  Ryan, along with Ned Cox, hit threes in the run.  Just minutes later, Cox tied his career-high with his fourth trey to put UE up 55-32. 
 
Illinois State continued to fight back despite the deficit as five players scored in what would turn out to be a 14-5 run.  Anthony Cousin had five points as ISU cut UE’s lead down to 14 points at 60-46, at the midway mark of the second stanza.  The Redbirds kept chipping away in the final minutes, but the deficit proved to be too much to overcome as Evansville came away with the 8-point win.  ISU did not get any closer than the final deficit.
 
Free throw shooting played a role once again for UE.  The 12^th-best free throw shooting team in the nation recorded its seventh 80% effort or better, hitting 21-of-23, a 91.3%.  Evansville also grabbed 36 rebounds while holding ISU to 31.  Over the recent three-game win streak, the Aces have outrebounded the opposition by an average of 3.3 per game.  In the four losses prior to last weekend, UE was outrebounded by an average of 9.5 per contest.  Freshman Ryan Sawvell led the way with a career-high 11 boards.
 
A pair of Redbirds reached double figures as Nic Moore had 17 and Tyler Brown finished the night with 14.
 
On Wednesday, the Aces will take a trip to Wichita, Kan. for its second meeting of the season against Wichita State.  On Sunday, January 29, UE will be back at the Ford Center to face in-state rival Indiana State in front of a national audience at 7:05 p.m. on ESPNU.