Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. – The Purple Aces men's basketball team grabbed their first win in Wichita in 12 years as they took a 59-56 win over the Shockers on Wednesday evening at Koch Arena.
The last win for UE in Koch Arena came in 2001 as UE took a 77-74 victory. That also marked the last time they earned the sweep over the Shockers.
Colt Ryan followed his MVC Player of the Week honor with a 29-point effort on 10-of-18 shooting. He was the lone Ace (17-13, 9-8 MVC) in double figures. One of the unsung heroes of the night was sophomore Jordan Nelson, who scored five points, but they were two of the largest buckets of the night for UE.
"Everybody contributed tonight and we never lost our intensity," head coach Marty Simmons said. "We overcame a lot of adversity to earn the win.
Troy Taylor got the Aces on the board before D.J. Balentine heated up from outside. The freshman, making his first career start, drained a pair of treys as UE opened up the first four minutes by taking a 10-6 lead.
Threes continued to fall as UE hit eight of its first 11 buckets and four out of five threes top open the game. Colt Ryan hit three free throws and a trey before Lewis Jones got on the board with a three as the Aces eventually led 19-6 before a Nick Wiggins trey ended the run. Wichita State (24-6, 12-5 MVC) was 3-of-10 to begin the contest.
After getting down by as many as 13 points, WSU cut the deficit to just seven, forcing a UE timeout. It proved to be worth while as the Aces reeled off the next four points with a pair of Adam Wing buckets. The lead would hold strong as the Aces took a 38-28 lead into the locker room.
Ryan finished the half with a game-high 18 points while Balentine tallied nine after knocking down 3 treys.
Wichita State made its run to open the second half. After a Ryan free throw put UE up 42-31, the Shockers scored the next 11 to tie it up at 42-42. Over the scoreless streak, the Aces missed seven shots in a row while turning the ball over three times. Jordan Nelson ended the streak with just his second 3-pointer of MVC play while Troy Taylor connected on a field goal to put UE back up by five at 47-42.
Another run saw WSU take their first lead of the game at 50-49 as Cleanthony Early dunked following a steal with just under nine minutes remaining. Evansville turned the ball over on three possessions in a row as the Shockers turned those into seven points as their lead grew to 53-49.
Failing to relent in a hard-fought affair, UE fought back as Ryan's 26th points gave the Aces a 54-53 edge with six minutes left. Two minutes later his and-one helped them take a 59-54 advantage. That 10-3 run was fueled by their defense, which held WSU to just 1-of-11 shooting in the stretch.
The game came down to the wire as UE held a 3-point inside of 20 seconds remaining. The Shockers grabbed an offensive rebound with 4 seconds left giving them one last shot, but a Carl Hall trey at the buzzer fell short giving UE the win.
UE finished with a 45.8%-38.2% shooting lead while it was the Shockers taking a 42-23 rebounding edge. Tekele Cotton led WSU with 12 tallies while pulling in nine caroms, a game high. Early notched 10 for the Shockers.
Saturday will mark Senior Day as the six seniors for Evansville will be honored when the Aces face Indiana State in a 4 p.m. game at the Ford Center.
