Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Purple Aces men’s basketball squad is looking for its first 4-1 start in conference play since the 1999-00 season as they will play host to Wichita State on Sunday afternoon at the Ford Center.
 
Set for a 3:35 p.m. tip, the game will be televised on ESPN3.com.  Fans are reminded that the women’s team plays Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. A special “Aces Youth Basketball Day” will take place.  Youth wearing their team jerseys can purchase tickets for $5 while their family members can get tickets for the same price.
 
Following the men’s game, all youth in their uniforms are encouraged to bring their own basketballs for a postgame shootaround on the floor.  Fans are also reminded that Boomer, who is the mascot for the Indiana Pacers, will be in attendance.
 
A back-and-forth contest took place on Wednesday in Cedar Falls, Iowa as the Purple Aces eventually prevailed to take a 62-59 win over the Panthers.  Prior to a 76-65 win at the McLeod Center last season, Evansville had fallen in nine-straight contests on the road versus UNI.
 
With a game-high 21 points in the win at Northern Iowa, senior Colt Ryan joined an exclusive club while making MVC history.  Ryan became just the 27th player in the history of the Valley to reach the 1,800-point plateau; he now stands at 1,816 points in his career and passed Kyle Korver of Creighton (1,801 career tallies) for 26th in league history; with just 53 more points, Ryan will jump over seven more player and into the top 20 in the MVC record book.
 
Colt is finding his groove; in the 10 non-conference games he played in, he posted an average of 13.7 points while seeing just over 24 minutes of action; he has upped that total in league play, posting 21.3 points while playing in 36 minutes per contest; he also has hit all 20 free throw attempts.
 
Troy Taylor is the top rebounding point guard in the country and kept it going with a 7-rebound and 11-point effort against Northern Iowa, after recording just six double-digit games last season, Taylor has already hit that mark five times, including his triple-double at Creighton.   Through four conference outings, Taylor has posted an average of 10.8/game, second behind only Jackie Carmichael of Illinois State; that total includes his 19-board performance against Missouri State; he has notched at least seven caroms in all four league games.]
 
One part of his game that he has worked on has been his free throw shooting; entering league play, Taylor hit just 53.5% (23-43) of his attempts, but his hard work has paid dividends in league play as he has hit 9 out of 11, 81.8%; he was 5-of-6 against UNI, scoring pivotal points down the stretch.
 
Lewis Jones is in the midst of the top scoring streak of his career, averaging 9.8 points over the course of the last six games.  Jones has been extremely aggressive on both sides of the floor, especially on the offensive side; through his first three years at UE, Jones scored in double figures on seven occasions, but has already notched five double-digit efforts this season.
 
UE’s performance from the line has gotten better as the season has gone along and Jones has been a large part of that; through the first nine games, Jones was just 10-of-23 on his free throw attempts, but he has turned that around, hitting 22 of his last 25 attempts.
 
Ranked 23rd in the nation, Wichita State is 15-1 on the season and has won six in a row following a 69-60 road loss at Tennessee on Dec. 13.  The Shockers are a perfect 4-0 in MVC play following an 82-76 win over SIU on Wednesday evening; after trailing 43-34 at the half, WSU took control in the second half, outscoring the Salukis by a 48-33 margin to earn the win.
 
Junior transfer Cleanthony Early leads the way for the Shockers as his 15.4 PPG average is good for fifth in the MVC; in the win over SIU, Early hit 13-of-19 shots along with five treys to finish with 39 points.  Defense has been the strongest asset for WSU as they have held opponents to 39.6% shooting, tops in the league and 53rd in the country; their 3-point defense along with forced turnover totals also rank in the top 75 nationally.  Rebounding is also a strong point for WSU as they have pulled in a board on 58.2% of their possessions, 10th in the nation; they lead the Valley in boards per game with 34.3.