Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Evansville will look to improve to 6-5 in Missouri Valley play as the Aces will host Indiana State in front of a national audience on Sunday at the Ford Center.
 
ESPNU will televise the game, which is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
 
On Wednesday, the Aces put forth a strong effort in a losing cause at Wichita State.  The Shockers hit 13 out of their first 15 shots in the game and lead by 17 at the half.  WSU would see its lead grow to as many as 25 in the second half, but the Aces refused to give up, rallying to cut the deficit to just nine points in the closing minutes.  Kenneth Harris led UE with 18 points while Colt Ryan had 17 and Ryan Sawvell finished with 13.
 
For his efforts in last week’s wins over Bradley and Illinois State, Ryan was named the MVC Player of the Week.  Ryan averaged 29.5 PPG in the wins, which included a career-high 39 points against Bradley.  Ryan also set career marks with 12 field goals and eight three-pointers against the Braves.  In the win over Illinois State, he tallied 20 points before scoring 17 in Wednesday’s game at Wichita State.  At Wichita, Ryan scored 17 points and is in sole possession of the scoring lead in MVC games with 23.1 PPG.
 
After hitting double figures on one occasion in the first 12 games of his freshman campaign, Sawvell has hit that mark four times in the last seven games, including a career-high of 14 points against Drake.  He has shown extreme patience in his shot selection, which is shown in his .646 shooting percentage on the year, which would be 4th in the nation with enough attempts.  He has upped the ante in MVC play, knocking down 65.2% of his attempts, second in the league behind Seth Tuttle of UNI, who is shooting .667.
 
Indiana State has put forth a 12-9 mark in 2011-12, but has won just three out of ten MVC games.  The Sycamores have several impressive wins this season, none more than a road win at Vanderbilt.  On Wednesday, ISU grabbed a 59-54 win at home over Northern Iowa.  They are a stellar home team, winning eight out of ten contests, but have struggled to a 2-6 mark on the road.  A pair of Sycamores are averaging double figures, led by Dwayne Lathan’s 11.9 PPG average.  Carl RIchard has averaged 10.1 PPG.  Richard was the star in the win over the Panthers, tallying 17 points as he hit 7-of-12 attempts from the floor. 
 
This will mark the second meeting of the season between the Aces and Sycamores as ISU held on for an 80-78 win in Terre Haute on January 10.  Evansville opened up the game by taking a 13-4 lead, but Indiana State made a furious rally to take a 44-35 lead at the half.  The Sycamores led by as many as 11 in the second period before UE made a rally of its own, coming within inches of hitting a potential game-winning three before falling by an 80-78 final.
 
Next week, UE will be on the road for a pair of contests, beginning at Bradley on Wednesday before the annual contest in Carbondale, Ill. against Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m.