Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Seniors Kenneth Harris, Denver Holmes and Matt Peeler will be honored as part of the Senior Day festivities for the Purple Aces men’s basketball team as they close out the regular season on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. against Missouri State at the Ford Center.
 
With a win, Evansville clinches a seed between No. 3 and 6 for next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.  A loss would seed the Aces between sixth and eighth.
 
Another close finish fell the way of the opposition as the Aces dropped a 93-92 overtime thriller at Creighton.  Leading by as many as 14 in the second half, the Bluejays fought their way back, taking advantage of Evansville’s foul trouble.  Colt Ryan (43 points) and Denver Holmes (25 pts) put forth career efforts in the game as the Aces shot 58.9%.  Late foul trouble plagued Evansville as four players finished with four fouls while another fouled out.  Doug McDermott and Antoine Young tallied 21 apiece to lead the Bluejays.
 
Eight of Evansville’s 14 losses have come by an amazing 15 combined points.  The Aces fell to Creighton, Wichita State and at Southern Illinois by a point, lost four two-point games (Indiana State, Illinois State, Tennessee Tech and TCU) and fell at UIC by four points.  Five of those contests saw UE hold a lead in the final 1:30 of play.
 
For just the fourth time in program history, Evansville had a player score 40 or more as Colt Ryan recorded a career-high of 43 against Creighton.  Scott Haffner had the top game in program history with a 65-point effort against Dayton in 1989 while Parrish Casebier had a pair of 40-point games (41 vs. Notre Dame and 44 vs. Illinois State, both in 1992).  Ryan’s total was the most since Casebier had 44 in the December 12, 1992 game against the Redbirds.  Ryan shot lights out, knocking down 17-of-24 shots, including four three-pointers.  His 17 field goals marked the first time an Ace hit 15 or more since Casebier’s game against ISU.
 
While its hard to steal the headlines when someone scores 43, Denver Holmes gave it his all.  The Olathe, Kan. native hit 8-of-9 shots, which included five out of six treys on his way to 25 points, the top scoring output of his career.  Holmes recorded seven assists while hauling in three rebounds.  Over the last four games, Holmes has hit 25 out of 36 shots, shooting 65.8%.  He also leads the Valley in free throw shooting, hitting 88.9% of his attempts.
 
Missouri State comes to Evansville on a three-game losing streak after dropping a 59-46 decision at home to Indiana State on Wednesday.  Reigning MVC Player of the Year Kyle Weems has averaged 15.5 PPG to lead the Bears while three others have also averaged double figures.  Weems was held to just seven points against the Sycamores, but led MSU with 17 points in the first meeting this year against UE.  The Bears take care of the ball better than just about every other team in the country, ranking 6th in turnovers per game (10.3) and 16th in assist/turnover ratio.
 
In the opening meeting against the Bears, Evansville overcame a 12-point deficit with 9:13 remaining to take an 87-82 overtime win.  Trailing by five with 39 seconds left, Denver Holmes hit a pair of threes to take the game to the extra period with the score knotted at 75-75.  In the extra period, Colt Ryan notched six points to help UE take the win.  Lewis Jones had a career performance, dropping 24 points while Troy Taylor set career marks in points and rebounds with 14 apiece. 
 
There is a ticket special set for Saturday’s game as fans can buy one ticket and get another free.  Please contact (812) 488-ACES for more information.  For those fans out of town, the live stream will be available courtesy of AcesTV free of charge.