EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following a grueling three games in three days in the Bahamas, the University of Evansville men's basketball team is ready to get back on the court on Saturday with a game at IUPUI. Game time is 6 p.m. CT at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. The Purple Aces Radio Network and ESPN+ will have full coverage.
Setting the Scene
- Evansville and IUPUI square off for the fourth time in their respective histories
- In the only other road match-up, the Aces earned an 84-78 win in 2013
- K.J. Riley looks to continue his recent hot streak; the senior has reset his career scoring high in each of the last two games
- Freshman Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander saw his first action, playing just over a minute in the last two games of the Bahamas trip
- As a team, UE is 10th in the NCAA with a total of 130 free throw makes
Last Time Out
- On Sunday, Evansville and Morgan State tangled in a rare triple overtime game at the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase
- For the Aces, it marked just the second time in program history that a game needed a third extra period to be decided; the other time came on February 6, 1958 when UE defeated St. Joseph's (Indiana) by a final of 78-70
- UE won by a final of 115-112; it marked the first 100-point game since the Aces scored 116 against Earlham on 11/15/14
- The last time Evansville had 100 against a Division I team came on Feb. 12, 2014 when UE defeated Illinois State, 104-98, in overtime
- The last time Evansville had 115 points against a D-I team was on Jan. 25, 1993 in a 116-54 triumph over Chicago State
- K.J. Riley led the Aces with a career-high 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting; he was one of five UE players to record double figures
Leftovers from Morgan State
- UE finished the game shooting 56.5% from the field; it was the highest percentage in the tenure of head coach Walter McCarty; the highest effort last season was 52.9% in the home win over Loyola
- Led by K.J. Riley's 36 points, five Aces recorded double figures
- Since the start of last season, the Aces are 2-1 in overtime games; but a perfect 2-0 in games that have gone to double or triple overtime
- The Aces trailed the Bears by an 80-69 margin with 3:38 remaining; UE finished regulation on a 16-5 run capped off by Riley's triple with 1.5 seconds remaining
Doing what he does best
- Aces senior K.J. Riley currently leads the nation in fouls drawn
- Riley has drawn an average of 9.1 fouls per game
- He also leads the NCAA with 46 free throw makes and 57 free throw tries
A New Career Mark - Twice
- Senior K.J. Riley wrapped up the best week of his career with the top two offensive performances in his time as a Purple Ace
- Against George Washington, Riley had 28 points while hitting 14 out of 16 free throws
- He followed that up with one of the best games the program has seen in recent seasons, totaling 36 points in the triple overtime win against Morgan State
- He was 12-of-19 overall and 10-for-14 from the line; with UE trailing by three, Riley sent the game to overtime with an off balance triple with 1.5 seconds left
- Riley was the top performer for either team in the game at Kentucky
- The Bronx product tallied 18 points while going a perfect 2-2 from outside and 8-8 from the free throw line
Making the Start
- Redshirt junior Artur Labinowicz opened the season averaging five points per game through the first two contests
- Since then, he has found a nice rhythm, averaging 16.2 points per game, second-best on the team over that span
- His season mark of 21 points came against IU Kokomo while he finished the weekend with 19 points against George Washington and 17 versus Morgan State
- Labinwocz made his first two starts in an Evansville uniform against the Colonials and Bears
- Against SMU, Labinowicz continued to excel from the line, hitting 7 out of 8 tries on his way to 12 points
- The top game of his college career came in his time at Coastal Carolina where he scored 32 in a win over Georgia State on 1/13/18
Long Distance Calls
- Junior Noah Frederking had his best game of the season against East Carolina, pouring in 17 points
- He connected on a career-high five triples in the game; in the contests against SMU and the Pirates; he combined to hit 8 out of 15 long range tries
- Frederking leads the Aces with 12 triples on the year
- He has started all seven games this year and stands at 24 starts as he embarks on his third season with the program
- His top career game came on 11/15/18 against Kentucky Wesleyan as he scored 26 points
Scouting the Opponent
- IUPUI enters Saturday's game with a 2-5 mark after dropping an 83-77 decision against Southern on Tuesday
- The Jaguars have earned wins over Anderson and South Florida
- UE is the third team the Jags have faced from the MVC; they fell in games against Bradley and Loyola earlier in November
- Marcus Burk leads IUPUI with 23.6 points per game and a total of 12 steals; he is a 50% shooter overall and has connected on 8 out of 9 free throw tries
- Jaylen Minnett checks in with 11.7 PPG
- Their top rebounder is Elyjah Goss, who has 6.9 boards per contest
- GEAR: To buy the newest official Aces athletic gear, check out the new Aces Sideline Store operated by BSN Sports on the front page of GoPurpleAces.com.
- INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville athletics, visit GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics.
- DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com.
- TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page.
