EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following the weekend trip to Des Moines, the University of Evansville men's basketball team remains on the road for a Thursday evening contest at Southern Illinois with tip set for 7 p.m. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network have the broadcast.
Setting the Scene
- With the regular season winding down, the Aces trek to Carbondale for their second-to-last road game
- The newly renamed Banterra Center has been kind to the Purple Aces with UE winning four of the last six games
- Entering the 2014 meeting, Evansville dropped 12 road games in a row at SIU before reeling off four in a row between 2014 and 2017
- Despite falling in its last two visits to the facility, the Aces have played well, losing by just 3.5 points per game
- UE hopes to end a 14-game losing streak, which is tied for the longest in its time at the Division I level (2009-10); the largest winless stretch in program history was a 15-game span in 1928-29
Last Time Out
- Two UE player set the career scoring marks on Sunday in an 85-80 loss at Drake inside the Knapp Center
- Sam Cunliffe and Evan Kuhlman each registered their top offensive games with the program
- Cunliffe scored 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting while Kuhlman hit five triples on his way to 17 points
- The Aces led by as many as nine tallies in the first half, but a 15-0 run in the final minute of the first half through the opening four minutes of the second half changed the complexion of the contest
- Evansville knocked down 13 3-pointers in the game, but Drake countered with 32 free throw makes in 42 trips to the line
Just Six Away
- Senior K.J. Riley enters Thursday's game with 994 points in his UE career
- He is 6 points away from becoming the 50th player in program history to score 1,000 in his career
Stepping Up
- In his biggest performance of the season, Sam Cunliffe scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds in the contest at Drake
- Cunliffe passed both his UE scoring mark (21 pts) and career high (23) with the effort
- He converted nine field goals, also a high
- Over the last seven games, Cunliffe leads the squad with 6.0 rebounds per game; he recorded 3.3/game in the first 20 games
- Aside from that number, he has played 33 minutes per game and has recorded 15.0 points; he has seen the floor for at least 26 minutes in each of those contests and set his career mark with 38 versus Loyola
- He has shot 40% or higher in nine of the last 14 games with his most efficient effort coming at Indiana State where he was 5-of-7 from the field
Putting up the Numbers
- Junior Evan Kuhlman joined Sam Cunliffe in posting his career scoring mark against the Bulldogs with 17 points
- He drained six of his 12 attempts overall and was 5-of-9 from outside
- His last six games have seen him post 10.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks
- Kuhlman's low scoring game in the stretch was a 5-point showing against SIU, but he picked his game up in every other way, totaling seven blocks, six rebounds, four steals and three assists
Scouting the Opponent
- Southern Illinois enters Thursday's game with a 15-12 mark and stand at 9-5 in MVC play
- The Salukis have dropped their last two games following a 7-game win streak; last time out, they fell by a 69-67 final against Bradley
- Marcus Domask continues to pace the Salukis with 14.6 points per game while playing 35.2 minutes
- Domask scored 22 points and had 9 rebounds in the first meeting against UE
- Eric McGill stands with 11.1 points while Barret Benson has 10.8 points and a team-best 5.7 caroms per game
- Benson led everyone with 10 boards in the contest at the Ford Center
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