EVANSVILLE, Ind. – K.J. Riley and John Hall led the University of Evansville men's basketball team with 19 and 18 points, respectively, but Illinois State shot 51.9% on their way to a 78-70 win over the Purple Aces on Saturday afternoon inside the Ford Center.
Riley was 13-of-18 from the free throw line with six assists. Hall was an efficient 8-for-12 from the field while knocking down two of his four tries from outside. He posted his third double-double of the season as he added 11 boards. The Aces (9-10, 3-3 MVC) saw Noah Frederking and Marty Hill finish with nine points apiece.
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"We let lot of plays get away from us. We need to be locked in better and understand what we need to do," UE head coach Walter McCarty said. "We need to be better, we let them shoot without resistance and that made a big difference."
Six lead changes took place in the first half as the Aces and Redbirds (11-8, 4-2 MVC) battled in the early-going. After the Redbirds scored a three on their opening possession, the Aces took their first lead at 5-3 as John Hall hit a bucket before Marty Hill connected on UE's first long ball of the game.
Triples by Noah Frederking and Hall saw Evansville go up by a 15-13 tally, but ISU kept fighting back. They took a 24-23 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the half and went on a 9-0 run to push the lead to 10 points. The Aces were scoreless for close to six minutes, going 0-for-8 with a turnover. K.J. Riley ended the stretch with a bucket before Shea Feehan added a three. Hall's fifth basket of the game helped UE get within five - 35-30 - going into halftime.
Illinois State scored five of the first six points of the second half to open up their largest advantage at 40-31 before a pair of Riley free throws cut back into the gap. The Redbirds lead reached double figures for the first time with a 44-33 score before a Noah Frederking triple got the Aces within eight tallies. Near the midway point of the half, consecutive ISU triples put their lead at a game-high 13 points - 56-43.
A Marty Hill triple, combined with consecutive layups by Hall, got Evansville back within seven tallies (59-52) with 8:24 left in the game. UE would later cut the gap to six points, but the Redbirds countered each time. The Aces never relented as a Jawaun Newton trey made it a 69-62 game with just under four minutes remaining. Hall got the Aces even closer a minute later, drilling his second from outside to cut the deficit to four.
With a minute remaining, the ISU lead stood at 74-67, but on the next UE trip down the floor, Shea Feehan was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit all three tries. ISU hit its free throws on the other end and were able to finish with the 78-70 win.
The shooting for ISU was the difference as they finished at 51.9% along with 52.6% from outside (10-of-19). Evansville finished at 38.2% for the game while hitting 11 3-pointers.
UE will spend the next several days in the state of Iowa - starting with a Wednesday evening game at Drake before playing at UNI on Saturday. Both contests start at 7 p.m.
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