EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The annual trip to Chicago takes place on Saturday when the University of Evansville men's basketball team faces Loyola at 3 p.m. at Gentile Arena. The game will be carried on ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network.
Setting the Scene
- UE heads to Gentile Arena where it has split six meetings against the Ramblers since they joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 2013
- Last season, Evansville earned one of its biggest wins of the season, defeating Loyola by a final of 67-48 at the Ford Center on January 8
- The Aces have lost their first three MVC games for the first time in two years and hope to avoid an 0-4 start in the Valley for the first time since 2009-10
Last Time Out
- Bradley jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back, defeating the Purple Aces by a final of 72-52 on Wednesday at the Ford Center
- The Braves led by as many as 25 points in the second half before UE made a run and cut the gap to 13
- Evansville shot 33.3% on the night and was 5-of-20 from long range
- K.J. Riley hit 8 of his 10 free throw tries while finishing with a team-best 12 points
- Freshman Marcus Henderson set his career mark with nine points while John Hall also added nine
- With 30 minutes of floor time, sophomore Shamar Givance set his career mark in that statistic
Career Game
- Freshman Marcus Henderson had his best college game on Wednesday when the Aces faced Bradley
- Henderson recorded nine points while hitting three shots and his first two free throws
- Entering the game, his high of six points came twice
Doing what he does best
- Senior K.J. Riley continues to rank near the top of the NCAA in free throw makes (87) and attempts (107)
- His 87 makes is 7th in the nation while his 107 attempts is 9th
- Riley has drawn 6.9 fouls per game, ranking 20th in the NCAA
Positive Ratio
- Through 16 games this season, Evansville has finished with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio six times, winning five of those games
- When the Aces are credited with single digit assists in a game, they are 0-4
- Interestingly enough - Evansville is 1-2 when committing fewer than 10 turnovers
Scouting the Opponent
- Loyola stands at 10-6 overall and 2-1 in the MVC
- After winning their first two league contests, the Ramblers fell at Drake by a 65-62 final on Tuesday
- One of the top players in the league is Cameron Krutwig; the unior leads Loyola with 16.3 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per contest and a total of 69 assists
- Krutwig along with UE's DeAndre Williams are the only two players to rank in the top five in the MVC in scoring and rebounding
- Tate Hall averages 13.4 points and has a team-best 27 steals
- The Ramblers lead the Valley shooting 50.1% as a team
- 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.
