Box Score

NORMAL, Ill. – Ned Cox registered a season-high 18 points but Jackie Carmichael (24 points) and Tyler Brown (23) helped Illinois State earn a 67-62 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Saturday evening at Redbird Arena.
 
Cox led UE (12-9, 5-4 MVC) with 18 on 5-of-10 shooting and a 6-6 effort from the line.  Colt Ryan tallied 17 points while D.J. Balentine tallied a 14-point outing.  Illinois State (12-9, 3-6 MVC) was led by Carmichael’s 24 points and 14 rebounds while Tyler Brown finished with 23.  Making their efforts even more impressive was the fact that they scored the final 25 ISU points over the final 12:36 of the game.
 
Jackie Carmichael hit the first three shots for Illinois State before they took an 8-4 lead in the opening moments.  The Aces had a sloppy start to the game, hitting one out of their first four shots while turning the ball over three times in the first four minutes of play.  They rebounded from that by going on an 8-1 run while holding ISU without a field goal for over 7 minutes. 
 
Allen Bryant ended the run with a jumper as the Redbirds fought back take the lead back with a  7-0 run as they took an 18-16 lead.  Over that stretch, Evansville missed just two shots, but turned the ball over four times.  Ned Cox ended the 5-minute drought with a 35-foot trey before Nick Zeisloft hit one of his own to put Illinois State back up at 21-19.
 
What started out as a 7-0 run finished up as a 20-6 stretch over the final 9:38 of the period.  The Aces turned the ball over five times in the stretch while connecting on just 2-of-8 buckets.  The Redbirds hit seven out of their final 14 attempts of the half.  Carmichael took the game in his own hands in the first half, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds; he hit four out of his five buckets while failing to turn the ball over.  Part of UE’s struggles in the opening stanza came with uncharacteristic sloppy play as the turned the ball over eight times before trailing 31-22 at the break.
 
A quick start by the Aces in the second half helped them cut the deficit to five points as UE made its first two buckets before Cox hit a pair of free throw attempts.  John Wilkins ended the stretch as he hit his first 3-pointer to give ISU a 38-30 lead.  Colt Ryan hit four out of his first five shots of the second half as he helped the Aces retake the lead at 43-42 with 12 minutes remaining.  Another pivotal bucket in a 13-4 UE stretch was by Cox as his 3-pointer brought the Aces within a point before Ryan hit a floater in the lane to give Evansville the lead as they hit 5-of-6 shots over a time of 3:29.  D.J. Balentine completed an 8-0 run as his three made it a 4-point lead for Evansville.
 
Tyler Brown swung the momentum back to Illinois State as he complete an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it a 46-46 game 9:11 remaining.  With the game tied up at 48, ISU posted the next six points as part of an 11-2 run before Ryan hit two free throws to make it a 54-50 contest in favor of the Redbirds.  Brown continued his second-half surge as another 3-point play helped ISU take a 59-51 advantage inside of 4 minutes left.  Evansville got within five late as that would be the final deficit with Illinois State holding on for a 67-62 victory.
 
ISU held a slight 36-34 rebounding advantage while UE outshot the Redbirds, 41.1%-40.4%. 
 
Next up for the Aces is a return home for a Tuesday night contest against Northern Iowa.  The Panthers and Aces will begin at 7:05 p.m. and all regularly priced adult tickets are $4 off following the promotion at the Bradley game.  For more information, call (812) 488-ACES.