Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – March is here and with that comes Arch Madness as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will open up play at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday beginning at 2:30 p.m. inside the Scottrade Center.
 
For the second year in a row and for the 13^th time in tournament history, Evansville will face off against its final opponent of the year, Indiana State.  Last season, the Aces earned a win over Missouri State in its regular-season finale before downing the Bears in St. Louis.  Last weekend, UE earned an 84-68 victory over Indiana State and will face the Sycamores on Friday.  Friday’s game will be televised by the MVC Network and on ESPN3.com; fans in Indiana can watch the game on Fox Sports Indiana and Fox Sports Midwest.
 
It is tournament time as the Purple Aces make their 19th appearance in Arch Madness as they enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed and will square off against the fifth seed Indiana State.   The Aces are rolling into the postseason with a 4-game winning streak as they look to make it two in a row over the Sycamores.  Prior to the Senior Day win over ISU, the Aces had lost four in a row to them, including a 52-50 loss in the 2011 MVC Tournament.  UE head coach Marty Simmons improved to 5-1 in Senior Day games, he has won his last five.
 
Four players were named to various MVC postseason teams.  Colt Ryan earned All-MVC First Team honors for the second year in a row; the only other Ace to be named to the list on two occasions was Marcus Wilson in 1998 and 1999.  For the second year in a row, Troy Taylor earned a berth on the All-Defensive Team; he is just the third player in program history to make the list.  A pair of freshmen earned All-Freshmen Team honors as #D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius# took a spot on the 5-player list; they are the third Evansville duo to be named in the same year.  Balentine was also named to the MVC All-Bench Team on March 6.
 
Through its first 23 games in the MVC Tournament, UE is 5-18, but has won a game each season that is has been one of the top four seeds, including a win over Missouri State as the third seed a season ago.  By earning a Senior Day win along with winnings its last three MVC games, the Aces clinched the No. 4 seed in the tournament.  It is just their third top-4 seed since coming into the league as it was No. 1 in 1999 and #3 in 2012.  The Aces are 3-2 at Arch  Madness as a top four squad.
 
For just the fourth time since entering the league, Evansville won 10 league games.  The Aces were 11-7 in 1994-95 and 1996-97 while going 13-5 to win the regular season championship in 1998-99.  The championship season was the last time prior to 2013 that UE won ten league contests.
 
With its four-game win streak, Evansville finished with its first 18-win season under Coach Simmons and its first since going 18-12 in the 1999-00 season.  The last time UE finished the regular season on such a streak was in the 1992-93 campaign when the Aces reeled off wins against Dayton, Butler, Detroit Mercy and Loyola.  They rode the momentum to three more wins in the MCC Tournament on their way to a berth in the NCAA’s where they faced Florida State.
 
Colt Ryan finished his career on fire, averaging 30 points in his last week of regular season play along with posting 25.6 PPG since February 1, tops in the conference.  Ryan is closing in on the all-time UE scoring record, which was set by Larry Humes and stands at 2,236; Ryan’s tally currently stands at 2,173 and he is just 64 points away from breaking the record. 
 
Sixteen of Jordan Nelson’s 42 points this season have come in the last two games, including a career-high of 11 tallies versus Indiana State.  Nelson has hit six out of seven shots in the last two games, including 3-of-4 treys.  His five points at Wichita State may have been the most important five as they ended scoreless droughts while helping the Aces to the win.  Against Indiana State, all 11 of Nelson’s points came in the first half as he helped the Aces to the halftime lead and the win.
 
For the third time, the Aces will square off against Indiana State in the MVC Tournament as each team has picked up a victory in the series.  The Sycamores wrapped up the regular season with a record of 17-13 and 9-9 in the league after falling in five of their last six games.   With his 20-point effort against UE last week, Jake Odum improved his season tally to 14.4 points per game along with a total of 141 assists and 44 steals on the season, all team highs.  Manny Arop (12.6 PPG) and R.J. Mahurin (10.5 PPG) also post a scoring average over ten points.  The Sycamores are strong on the defensive end as they boast the No. 2 3-point defense in the MVC, allowing just 32.2% of the opponents threes to find the bottom of the net. 
 
The action at Scottrade Center begins on Thursday evening as seeds 6-10 will play their games before the top six seeds see action on Friday.