Box Score

PEORIA, Ill. – A pair of Aces recorded the first double-doubles of their careers as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team cruised to a 92-62 victory over Bradley on Wednesday night at Carver Arena.
 
Freshman Ryan Sawvell recorded 16 rebounds, the most an Evansville (11-11, 6-6 MVC) player has had this season while tallying 12 points.  Senior Denver Holmes tied his career-high with 23 points and dished out a career-high 11 assists.
 
“That was outstanding effort, something you do not see every night,” head coach Marty Simmons said.  “We had the effort and sharpness on both ends of the floor.  We are proud of those guys.”
 
Evansville was strong from the outset, jumping out to an 8-2 lead before stretching it to 16-6.  The Aces forced five turnovers in the first four minutes while four players chipped in four points apiece.  The lead would only grow over the remainder of the period, leading by as many as 29 points (53-24) inside the final minute before a half-court shot at the buzzer by Jalen Crawford made it a 26-point deficit at the half.
 
UE forced 13 turnovers in the period while owning a 19-9 rebounding advantage and a 66.7-43.5% shooting advantage.
 
Sawvell was the dominant force in the opening stanza, notching his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 boards in the first 20 minutes.  He was one of three Aces to hit double digits in the first half as Colt Ryan and Denver Holmes had 11 apiece.
 
Another freshman, Jaylon Moore, also made an impact.  In just two minutes of action, Moore hit a pair of shots, including his first collegiate dunk.
 
Bradley made a bit of a run early in the second period.  Including the final shot of the period and extended into the second, the Braves embarked on an 11-4 stretch to cut the deficit to 24 points (59-35), but Evansville was able to stretch the lead back to 29 as Ryan knocked down his first three of the game to make it a 64-35 lead for UE.
 
Dyricus Simms-Edwards kept the Braves in the game, scoring nine-straight points for the Braves as part of a 12-2 run to get the deficit under 20 for the first time since the first period at 66-47.  It was too little, too late, though, for the Braves as the Aces re-extended the lead and would cruise to the 92-62 win.  Evansville led by as many as 32 points in the final two minutes.
 
After scoring a career-high 39 points in the last game against Bradley, Colt Ryan tallied 24 points to lead UE.  Ned Cox was the fifth Aces in double figures with ten.  Jaylon Moore had the top scoring output of his career, finishing with six points on a perfect 3-for-3 effort, which included a pair of dunks.
 
Taylor Brown, the No. 4 scorer in the MVC, led BU with 18 points.  He connected on 6-of-14 shots on the night.  Jake Eastman had 11 while Jordan Prosser notched 10.
 
For the first time since November 28, 1998 at Hawaii Hilo, the Aces grabbed a 30-point road win.  UE also picked up its first win in Carver Arena since 2003.  The 31 assists marked the most ever by an opponent at Carver Arena while the 41 baskets were the most against the Braves since 1977.
 
Evansville was extremely unselfish in the game, recording 31 assists on 41 shots.  It marked the top assist mark in the Coach Simmons era at UE.  The Aces also finished with their largest rebounding edge of the season, tallying 40 while holding Bradley to just 25.        
 
Southern Illinois is up next for the Aces as they travel to Carbondale, Ill. on Saturday before coming home to face nationally-ranked Creighton on Tuesday, February 7.