Box Score

NORMAL, Ill. – Jackie Carmichael hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Illinois State men’s basketball team a 75-73 win over the University of Evansville on Saturday at Redbird Arena.
 
The last minute of the game featured five lead changes before Carmichael’s shot gave ISU (11-4, 3-1 MVC) the win.  Colt Ryan led the way for UE (7-7, 2-2 MVC), scoring 25 points.  The junior connected on 10-of-15 shots.  Denver Holmes chipped I n18 points while Ryan Sawvell finished with ten.
 
As was the case in Wednesday’s game against Wichita State, the first half proved to be an exciting one as the lead changed hands on nine occasions.  Illinois State had its largest lead of five while UE would hold a lead of as many as three points.
 
A pair of buckets by Jackie Carmichael helped ISU jump out to an early 11-6 advantage six minutes in before the Aces put up a 7-1 run to grab a 13-12 edge.  A three-pointer by Denver Holmes capped off that run. 
 
With the Redbirds up 25-24 with 3:19 left in the half, the Aces would take the lead on the strength of a Ryan free throw and would hold that advantage over the remainder of the period, taking a  32-29 lead into the locker room.  Ryan and Holmes each scored eight points to lead all players in the first half.
 
Evansville came out firing in the second half, hitting its first five buckets to go up by as many as seven points on several occasions.  Ryan Sawvell hit two layups while Ryan reached double figures, hitting three shots in the first three minutes.
 
The run continued for UE as their lead would grow to eight points, 50-42.  Evansville connected on 8-of-10 attempts to start the half.  Illinois State made a rally of its own, scoring six in a row to get within a pair at 50-48.  ISU was also hot coming out of the break, hitting six of its first eight attempts led by Tyler Brown’s 3-3 start.
 
Illinois State’s rally was complete as Anthony Cousin knocked down a trey with 10:05 remaining to give them a 53-52 lead.  A Ned Cox bucket gave the lead back to UE before Brown struck again for the Redbirds, hitting his first three of the game to put ISU back on top.
 
Colt Ryan reach 20 points for the fourth time in as many league games, hitting two more shots to give the Aces back the lead at 58-57.  Neither team would lead by more than a possession and with the score tied at 66, Kenneth Harris stole the inbound pass before dunking it to give UE a lead with 2:15 remaining.  On the ensuing trip down the floor, Carmichael hit his third-consecutive bucket for ISU with 1:43 left in the contest.
 
After a shotclock violation by UE, Brown downed his fifth bucket of the half to put the Redbirds up 70-68 with 41 ticks left.  In a back-and-forth final minute, Ryan put the lead back in UE’s hands hitting a trey with 18 second left before Nic Moore hit a layup seven second later to mark the third lead change in final minute.  With just 2.8 seconds left, Lewis Jones got fouled on a shot, sending him to the line for a one-and-one where he calmly knocked down both to give Evansville the lead.
 
The wild finish continued as the lead switched hands for the fifth time in the final minute as Carmichael hit a wild three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Redbirds the victory. 
 
Carmichael led ISU with 17 points while Brown scored 16, 15 of which came in the second half.  The Redbirds finished with a 32-21 lead on the boards while Evansville shot the ball extremely well at 56% while holding ISU to 49%.
 
On Tuesday, the Aces will continue on the road, traveling to Terre Haute to face Indiana State.  After coming home on Friday to face Drake, UE will be back on the road at Missouri State on January 15.