JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – A 72-62 win at Green Bay on Saturday saw the University of Evansville men's basketball team improve to 8-3 overall and 3-0 on the road. The Purple Aces look to improve those statistics on Monday when they take on Jacksonville State at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Game time is 7:30 p.m. with ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network on the call.
Setting the Scene
- Riding a 5-game win streak, the Aces face the Gamecocks on their home court in Jacksonville, Ala.
- The 5-game win streak is the longest in head coach Walter McCarty's tenure
- Monday's game will be the third for the program in the state of Alabama; the Aces have taken on South Alabama on two occasions, most recently in 1987
- UE and JSU met for the first time last season at the Ford Center with the Gamecocks earning a 55-50 win on Dec. 15
Last Time Out
- On Saturday, the Aces picked up a 72-62 win at Green Bay
- Evansville led by as many as 19 points in the game and never trailed
- DeAndre Williams posted his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 22 points and adding 12 rebounds; he was 7-8 from the floor
- John Hall scored 12 points while Noah Frederking added 11
- K.J. Riley had a season-high 10 rebounds
- UE's defense held the Phoenix to 62 points - 18 under its season average
- The defense also held Green Bay to just 27.3% shooting; the second-lowest in Coach McCarty's two seasons
Win Streak
- As a team, the Aces have improved in several facets over the recent win streak; in the three losses, UE was outrebounded by 13.3 boards per game - the last five games - all wins - the Aces have outrebounded the opposition by 2.0 per game
- UE's shooting has gone up - the Aces have shot 49.2% in the win streak while the three losses saw the team finish at 37.9%
- Evansville has shot 50% or better in the three of the last five, including 64.2% against the RedHawks - the top effort in the Coach McCarty era
Dialing up from downtown
- In the win over Western Illinois, the Aces connected on 15 3-pointers, the most for the team in a home game at the Ford Center; UE added 12 against Miami Ohio and 10 at Green Bay
- Under Coach McCarty, the Aces have hit 10 or more triples on 13 occasions
- Between the start of the 2009-10 season and the end of the 2017-18 campaign, the program hit 10+ triples just 11 times in 298 games
Scouting the Opponent
- Jacksonville State enters Monday's game with a 2-7 record after dropping its last four games; all four of the losses came by seven points or less
- In their last action, the Gamecocks fell to Troy by a 60-55 final on December 11
- De'Torrion Ware leads the team in scoring, rebounding and free throws
- Ware averages 12.1 points and 6.2 rebounds while hitting 88% of his free throw tries
- Jacara Cross checks in with 10.1 points per game while converting 59.1% of his field goal attempts
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