Game Notes
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Senior Colt Ryan and the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday evening as the Purple Aces will travel to Terre Haute to take on Indiana State.
Tip will be at 7:05 p.m. CT at the Hulman Center. Fans unable to make the trip can watch the game on the MVC Network along with tuning in to 91.5 FM WUEV.
Entering Wednesday’s game at Drake, the top key to the game was handling the outside attack of the Bulldogs; UE handled that early on as Drake made one of their first seven treys, but finished the game making 10 of their final 13. Evansville kept pace with Drake, but a field goal drought of almost ten minutes of playing time helped the Bulldogs earn their second MVC win of the season while dealing the Aces their second loss of the Valley season.
Colt Ryan is looking for his fifth-consecutive 20-point outing, something he has never done in his career; his 25-point effort at Drake matched his streak of four games that he achieved in his junior year. Overall he has hit the 20-point mark in six of the last seven games and the last four overall; his scoring average for the season is now at 16.9.
Ned Cox has been the most consistent player throughout the 2012-13 season for UE as he has posted eight points or more in all but two games while registering double figures in 12 out of 18 contests. Since the beginning of last season, Cox has been one of the top free throw shooters in the league as he has hit 70 out of 80 attempts, including 25 out of 29 this season; he was 2-for-2at UNI, hitting both in the final 10 seconds to seal the win. Cox stands at 925 career points, just 75 away from becoming the 45th player in program history to score 1,000 points in his career.
On the strength of an 11-6 overall record and a 4-2 league mark, Indiana State enters Saturday’s matchup at the Hulman Center with a Top 50 RPI ranking. The Sycamores improved to 4-2 in the MVC on Wednesday with a 68-60 win over Missouri State; four players scored an even ten points as ISU outscored MSU by a 41-29 tally in the second half; ISU also shot 61.9% (13-21) in the latter frame.
Jake Odum leads Indiana State with 14.1 points per game while shooting an amazing 133 free throws on the season, connecting on 75.9% of those; he is a 48.1% shooter from the floor. Manny Arop has notched 12.8 points while tying for the team lead with 5.4 boards per contest. Indiana State is one of the top three defensive squads in the Valley; they are third in shooting defense, allowing opponents to hit 40.7% of their attempts while their defense on the inside is second, allowing teams to hit just 44.7% of their 2-pointers.
Bradley travel to town on Wednesday, January 23 for their first of two meetings against the Aces this season. The Braves and Aces will tip at 7:05 p.m. at the Ford Center.
