Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Basketball season is here as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will play host to the University of Southern Indiana in the Vectren Community Classic on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. inside the Ford Center.
 
Fans can still purchase tickets by calling 812-488-ACES, at Ticketmaster.com or at the Ford Center.
 
Fresh off of its best MVC effort in 13 years, the Aces have plenty to be excited about heading into the 2012-13 season. Evansville is set to return three starters and 11 letterwinners, which comprise 69.3% of its scoring, 77.9% of its rebounding, 68.4% of the squad’s assists and over 70% of the team’s minutes from 2011-12. The Aces used an overtime win in the regular season finale over Missouri State to move from the possibility of being as low as eighth in the league to a final finish of third.
 
Senior Colt Ryan is making his mark as one of the top players in the history of the UE program. Ryan enters his senior season with 1,594 career points, a total that is seventh on UE’s all-time list. He is just 11 points behind No. 6 Brad Leaf and is within striking distance of Larry Humes’ record of 2,236. Ryan is 642 points shy of the record and if he matches his productivity from last season when he scored 656 points, he can leave UE as the all-time leading scorer.
 
USI posted a 24-7 mark last season while going 12-6 in the GLVC while making their 24th trip to the NCAA II Tournament. They also won their third GLVC Championship. The Screaming Eagles must replace 46% of their offense from last year after losing their top two scorers. Their top returning scorer is Lawrence Thomas, who put up 9.5 PPG. They begin the season ranked 17th in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 45. They have been ranked in the polls in 19 of the last 21 seasons.
 
Evansville and USI have met three previous times in exhibition play with UE coming out on top all three times. In the last meeting in 2008, Evansville came away with a 71-67 win in double overtime.
 
Preseason action continues next Saturday as the men play host to Illinois-Springfield beginning at 4:05 p.m.  Earlier in the day, the women’s squad will take on USI beginning at Noon while the UE Fan Fest will take place from 2-4 p.m. across the street from the arena.