Game Notes
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Nationally-ranked Creighton will come to the Ford Center on Tuesday to face the University of Evansville men’s basketball team at 7:05 p.m.
Fans can purchase tickets for the Creighton game at full price and will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to any of the other remaining games (2/15 vs. UNI, 2/18 vs. Western Illinois or 2/25 vs. Missouri State) for just $10. For more information, please call the UE athletics ticket office at (812) 488-ACES. Another special promotion taking place on Tuesday evening will be $1 popcorn and soda.
For those wishing to view the game from out of town, AcesTV will have full coverage of Tuesday’s contest along with all home men’s games.
On Saturday, the Aces lost their 11th-straight game in Carbondale, Ill., falling to Southern Illinois by a final of 53-52. DOwn by as many as 13 in the first half, UE fought back to tie the game in the final minute, but the decisive play came in the last five seconds. Evansville had possession with the game tied, but a turnover led to Saluki Jeff Early getting fouled on a layup attempt with two seconds left. Early hit 1-of-2 free throws to push SIU to the win.
Following a record-setting outing at Bradley, the Evansville offense met its match at Southern Illinois. UE put up just 52 points while shooting 40.9%; both marked the lowest output in MVC play for the Purple Aces. The leading scorer for UE was Colt Ryan with 13 points, which marked the lowest total for the top scorer for UE this season. Southern Illinois also had its struggles defensively, putting forth just 19 second-half points. It marked the first time this season that UE held the opposition to fewer than 20 points in a half.
Junior Colt Ryan tallied 13 points, marking the 12th time in 13 Missouri Valley games that the Batesville, Ind. native has reached double figures. He has put forth nine 20-point league efforts and remains the leading scorer in conference games, averaging 22.4 PPG. Ryan has garnered two MVC Player of the Week honors and has hit 89.8% of his free throws since league play began. The junior is 11th in the nation in scoring.
Creighton comes to Evansville with an impressive 21-3 mark and an 11-2 record in the league, tied atop the conference with Wichita State. The Bluejays lone non-conference loss came at Saint Joseph’s while their other losses came against Missouri State and at Northern Iowa on Saturday. The Bluejays are currently the top ranked shooting team in the country, top three-point team and No. 2 in the country in assists. Everything for Creighton goes through sophomore Doug McDermott. McDermott is the No. 3 scorer in the country, averaging 23.4 points per game while his shooting percentage of .624 is in the top ten nationally.
The Bluejays have won the last six meeting against the Aces, including a pair of nearly identical matches last season. Creighton picked up a 74-69 win at Roberts Stadium in January before taking a 75-69 victory in Omaha. In the last game, CU led by five at the half before taking the win behind a 21-point outing by Antoine Young. The win for the Bluejays marked the 12th consecutive home win over UE. Colt Ryan was the leading scorer for the Aces with 20 points. Doug McDermott, a freshman at the time, recorded a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Evansville will be back on the road this weekend, traveling to Drake for a nationally-televised contest on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. ESPNU will have full coverage. Next Wednesday, the Aces will be back at the Ford Center to face Northern Iowa.
