EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Looking for its 10th home win of the season and 100th victory at the Ford Center, the University of Evansville men's basketball team takes on UNI in a 3 p.m. game on Sunday. ESPN3 and the Purple Aces Radio Network presented by Learfield will have live coverage.
Game Notes - ESPN3 - Live Stats - Listen
Setting the Scene
- UE holds a 19-7 record in home games against UNI and has seven of the last nine contests played in Evansville
- The Panthers took the first meeting by an 81-74 final in Cedar Falls; John Hall scored 21 points and had his fifth double-double of the season while K.J. Riley tallied 19 points in the McLeod Center
- Evansville has dropped six of its last seven games including a 68-56 loss to Missouri State on Wednesday
Last Time Out
- Missouri State led by 18 points at halftime and finished with a 68-56 victory on Wednesday at the Ford Center
- MSU was 17-of-23 (73.9%) in the first half, but the Aces held them to 0-for-10 to start the second half
- UE got within eight points in the final 20 minutes, but could not get any closer
- Marty Hill paced the team with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting while K.J. Riley scored 10
Takeaways from Missouri State
- Evansville trailed MSU by 18 points at the half; over the last four games, the Aces have averaged a 12-point deficit at the end of the first half
- Opponents are shooting 54.5% from long range in the first half of the last four games
- Freshmen Shamar Givance and Jawaun Newton each set career highs in minutes played against the Bears; Givance finished with 29 minutes in his third start of the season while Newton played 22 minutes
Putting it Together
- Marty Hill has recorded at least nine points in 13 consecutive games including a 20-point outing at Southern Illinois and 15 in the home game against the Bears
- It marked his second 20-point game of the year; he was 4-for-5 from outside
- He has connected on at least one 3-pointer in 15 of the last 16 contests
- Hill has been on fire from outside, hitting 31 of his last 74 attempts from long range in the last 15 games
- In the home win over Drake, Hill scored 24 points while hitting five out of seven 3-pointers in 39 minutes; it was his top effort at UE, surpassing his 16-point outing at Arkansas State
- He has scored 8 or more points in 23 of the 26 contests
Finishing on a High Note
- Dainius Chatkevicius had the best week of his Evansville career, averaging 12.5 points per game including a career-high of 13 points at Southern Illinois
- Chatkevicius hit 10 out of 16 field goal tries and chipped in 8.0 rebounds per contest; he began the week by tying his career mark of 12 points in the game at Indiana State
- Chatkevicius recorded 10 rebounds at SIU on the way to his second career double-double
- Over his last three games, Chatkevicius has chipped in 11.3 points
Scouting the Opponent
- UNI picked up a 77-64 win over Illinois State on Wednesday to improve to 11-15 overall and 6-7 in league action
- The Panthers defeated the Aces by an 81-74 final in January in Cedar Falls with Spencer Haldeman recording 24 points
- A.J. Green is the top scorer for the Panthers, averaging 15.0 points per game; he is also an 85.5% shooter from the line
- Wyatt Lohaus is next with 9.4 PPG while Trae Berhow is their top rebounder with 6.0 per contest
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