Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Purple Aces men's basketball team finished on a 13-1 run over the final four minutes of the game to take a 65-57 win over No. 15 Creighton on Tuesday evening at the Ford Center.
 
Evansville (12-12, 7-7 MVC) led by two at the half before Creighton (21-4, 11-3 MVC) rallied to lead by as many as seven in the second half.  The last lead for the Bluejays came with five minutes remaining before the Aces completed their game-ending run.  It marked the first win over a ranked opponent since UE grabbed a 71-68 win over No. 23 Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse last season.  The 57 points for the Bluejays marked their lowest output of the season.
 
"Our bench really helped us a lot, they gave us energy; Lewis, Ned and Rokas gave us great minutes,” head coach Marty Simmons said.  “It was a great effort, we just battled.  Creighton is outstanding and very talented, we were fortunate that they missed some shots.”
 
Kenneth Harris got the scoring started, hitting a three from the wing in the first minute.  Doug McDermott responded with an and-one to quickly tie the game.  The Aces continued to lead throughout the first half, going up by as many as ten points.
 
An Ethan Wragge bucket made it a 19-17 game before Lewis Jones helped UE pad its advantage with a pair of three-pointers, his first two of the season.  Denver Holmes and Troy Taylor also scored in the run.
 
Creighton finished the half on a 12-4 stretch to cut the deficit to just a pair at the half.  The Bluejays had 10 turnovers while scoring just 31 points in the opening stanza.  Their lowest score in a half this season was 30.
 
After recording just four points in the first half, Gregory Echenique scored four in a 6-2 stretch that aw Creighton take its first lead of the contest at 37-35.    What would turn into a 17-8 run to open the half was capped off by an Austin Chatman trey, which gave CU a 48-41 edge seven minutes into the period.
 
Evansville responded with a run of its own, this one being 11-4 as they rallied to tie the game at 52-all.  Ned Cox tallied six in the run before back-to-back buckets by Creighton put them up by four inside of six minutes remaining.
 
Back-to-back field goals helped UE tie the game up once again at 56 before a long jumper by Colt Ryan put the Purple Aces back on top with three minutes left.  Harris' sixth field goal of the evening capped off an 8-0 run by UE, giving the Aces a 60-56 lead with two minutes left.
 
An Antoine Young free throw ended the run with 58 seconds left before Ryan knocked down two free throws to make it a 5-point game.  The game-ending run for UE continued as Harris and Jones hit late free throws to seal the 65-57 win.
 
Harris was the leading scorer for the Aces with 15 points while Ryan chipped in 14.  Ryan Sawvell had another strong performance, notching 12.  Each led the Aces to a .431 shooting percentage while the Aces defense held Creighton to just .404, one of its lowest percentages of the season. 
 
Doug McDermott led all players with 21 points while tying for the game high with eight boards.  Austin Chatman had 11 points while Gregory Echenique had 10 points and eight boards.  The Bluejays finished with a 37-30 rebounding advantage.
 
On Saturday, UE will take to the road once again, traveling to Des Moines, Iowa to take on Drake.  The game is set for Sunday evening at 7:05 p.m. in front of a national audience on ESPNU.  The following weekend, Evansville will be back home to take on Northern Iowa and Western Illinois.