EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Redshirt sophomore John Hall posted the first double-double of his career, scoring a career-high 21 points while hauling in 11 rebounds to key an 86-78 win for the University of Evansville men's basketball team against Wyoming on Wednesday night at the Ford Center.
Hall was 8-of-15 from the field in the win while adding two steals in 33 minutes. He was one of five players to post double figures with Noah Frederking not too far behind with 17 points. He connected on 6 of his 9 shots while hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Shamar Givance hit two 3-pointers on his way to a career mark of 12 points while Dainius Chatkevicius and K.J. Riley had 10 points apiece for the Aces (3-3).
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"We responded great to the adversity after Saturday's game at Ball State. I told our guys Wyoming was going to come back and would not stop," UE head coach Walter McCarty said after the win. "I think we actually played better after we got tired because we were able to play at our pace. I thought we improved on a bunch of things like being connected and playing tougher. We did a better job of going after the rebounds; we're getting there. It is a process; it will be fun to see us 6 or 7 games from now and watching our pace."
For Hall, his focus was on leading by example and bringing energy to the floor. He did just that and wore off on his teammates.
"I saw that we needed a spark, I really wanted to give us some energy. They (Wyoming) started talking a little bit and that just fueled me to go out and play that much harder," Hall explained. "It was exciting to see all of our teammates play hard, that brings us all to another level, there is no other option."
Defense was the name of the game early on as the Aces took an 8-2 lead. UE forced Wyoming to miss its first seven shots before going 1-of-12 to start the game. Evansville was one for its first seven from the field. An and-one by the Cowboys saw them cut the lead to three at 8-5 at the 11:18 mark. Over the next five minutes UE was able to push its lead to 15 points as a 16-4 run gave Evansville a 24-9 advantage.
Noah Frederking had a key shot in the rally, drilling a 3-pointer while Shamar Givance capped off the run with a trey of his own. Wyoming kept fighting back in the final minutes and cut its halftime deficit to nine points at 33-24. John Hall paced the team with 8 points and 4 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
Out of the break, the Cowboys continued to claw their way back into the game. An and-one by Nyaires Redding helped UW make it a 34-30 game in the opening two minutes. Dainius Chatkevicius had a pair of buckets down low to push the lead back out to three possessions, but the Cowboys once again pushed the UE lead back to four points at 42-38.
A K.J. Riley old-fashioned 3-point play gave UE a 45-38 lead, but a turning point quickly took place on the ensuing UW possession. A double technical helped the Cowboys score six points in one possession to cut the lead to one, but Shea Feehan made one of the biggest shots of the night, knocking down a triple to make it a 4-point game. Noah Frederking explained the mindset of the team at that point.
"We came together better as a team, we huddled up and had time together after the technical and we really played well after that," he said.
Evansville was able to pull back out to a 60-51 lead, but another technical foul on the Aces was the difference. Already on a 6-0 run, UW forced the technical and turned the run into a 10-0 rally as they took a 61-60 lead.
McCarty was proud of the way his team responded after the Cowboys took the lead.
"If you linger bad plays, it affects everything on the floor. We had to stay together and we showed great character tonight."
Noah Frederking was true from downtown for the second time as his triple gave Evansville a 67-63 with seven minutes left. Down the stretch, the teams would swap the lead eight times, but the difference came with two minutes left. A Marty Hill basket gave UE a 74-73 lead before Hall keyed the next defensive possession with a block. Feehan grabbed the rebound and found Frederking for a layup.
Following a missed Wyoming free throw, UE got the ball back and Shamar Givance nailed his second triple to push the lead to six points at 79-73. From there, the Aces cruised to the 86-78 victory.
Justin James was the top performer for Wyoming (2-5) as he tallied 32 points and 20 rebounds. Hunter Thompson added 15 points.
Evansville shot 44.4% in the game and finished the second half at 53.1%. Wyoming checked in shooting 44.1% overall and increased that to 59.4% (19/32) in the final 20 minutes. The Cowboys also finished with a 42-36 rebounding edge. One of the big advantages for UE came from its bench, who outscored its Wyoming counterparts by a 44-16 margin.
UE is right back at home on Saturday, welcoming Albion to the Ford Center for a 1 p.m. contest.
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