Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s basketball team will play its third Missouri Valley Conference road game of the season on Tuesday, traveling to Terre Haute to face off against Indiana State at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday.
 
On the road at Illinois State, the Aces lost another tough contest as Jackie Carmichael hit a game-winning three as time expired to give the Redbirds a 75-73 win.  The contest featured 18 lead changes, including five in the last minute of play.  Evansville shot 56% in the game, led by Colt Ryan’s 25 points, but Illinois State converted 15 offensive rebounds into 21 points to make the difference.
 
With his fourth-consecutive 25-point outing, Ryan has continued to move up the scoring list at UE.  He currently stands in 25th place all-time with 1,236 points through his 2 1/2 year career.  Standing ahead of Ryan on the list is current Aces head coach Marty Simmons, who is 54 points ahead with 1,265 points for his career.
 
Ryan ranks seventh in the nation and second in the MVC averaging 21.3 PPG.  His 27.5 point per game average in league play is No. 1, solidly ahead of Creighton’s Doug McDermott.  Ryan has scored 25 points in all four MVC games thus far.
 
Senior Denver Holmes has quietly put up a strong conference in Missouri Valley Conference play.  The Olathe, Kan. native has averaged 13.0 points per game, putting him in the top 15 in the league through four games.  His top outing of 16 points came in the road win at UNI.  He has also been perfect from the free throw line, hitting all 12 attempts.
 
Five of Evansville’s seven losses have come by an amazing 11 combined points.  The Aces fell to Wichita State by a point, lost three two-point games (Illinois State, Tennessee Tech and TCU) and fell at UIC by four points.  Four of those contests saw UE hold a lead in the final 1:30 of play.
 
Indiana State enters Tuesdays game with a 10-5 record and a 1-3 league mark.  The Sycamores won their first five games before posting a 9-2 non-conference record, which included wins over Texas Tech and Vanderbilt.  Guard Jake Odum, an MVC Preseason All-Conference Team member, leads ISU with 88 assists, 30 steals and 5.3 rebounds per game.  ISU’s top scorer is Dwayne Lathan, who has averaged 12.1 PPG.  Lathan was the star in the Sycamore’s last game, tying for the game high with 17 points in ISU’s 69-63 loss to Missouri State. 
 
Ryan helped UE end its tenure at Roberts Stadium with a 73-67 win over Illinois State last season.  Ryan scored a career-high 32 points on 8-of-17 shooting and a 13-14 performance from the free throw line.   The Redbirds held a 37-32 lead at the half, but UE rallied to outscore ISU by 11 points in the second half to take the win.