EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Just two home games remain for the University of Evansville men's basketball team beginning on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. matinee against Indiana State. The game will be career on ESPN3 and the Purple Aces Radio Network.
Setting the Scene
- Two of the final three games of the regular season will take place at the Ford Center with UE welcoming the Sycamores and Illinois State over the next week
- In the first meeting against the Sycamores, UE dropped a 65-42 contest at the Hulman Center on Jannuary 15
- Sam Cunliffe led UE with 12 points in the game with Artur Labinowicz scoring nine
- Indiana State has won five in a row in the overall series against UE and 15 of the last 21 dating back to 2011
- Between 2015 and 2017, the Aces enjoyed a nice stretch against the Sycamores, picking up five wins in seven meetings
Last Time Out
- Senior K.J. Riley reached the 1,000-point mark in his career while DeAndre Williams made his return following a 12-game absence as the Aces fell by a 70-53 final at Southern Illinois on Thursday
- Riley led UE with 10 points while Williams and Sam Cunliffe recorded eight points each
- SIU shot 75% in the first half on their way to a final tally of 65.8%; Evansville finished at 38.2% while making six of their 28 attempts (21.4%) in the final 20 minutes
- With 11 minutes remaining, the Aces were within three points at 49-46 before the Salukis finished the contest on a 21-7 run
K.J. 1K
- In the first half of Thursday's game at SIU, senior K.J. Riley reached the 1,000-point mark for his career and became the 50th player in program history to do so
- Riley led the Aces with 10 points in the contest, marking the 8th game in a row that he has reached double figures in scoring; his longest such streak came last season when he did so in 10 consecutive games
- He is on an absolute roll for the Aces and had the best conference game of his Evansville career, scoring 28 points against Loyola
- He has reached double figure in the last eight games while averaging 14.8 points
He's Back
- After missing a total of 12 games due to injury, DeAndre Williams was back on the floor at Southern Illinois on Thursday
- Williams picked up two fouls in the opening two minutes of both the first and second half, but still managed to put up impressive numbers
- In 15 minutes of action, Williams finished with 8 points and 7 rebounds while dishing out an assist
- Making his effort even more impressive is the fact that he is adjusting to a new system with head coach Todd Lickliter and put up strong numbers with limited practice and floor time
Scouting the Opponent
- A 67-64 victory over UNI on Thursday saw Indiana State improve to 15-11 on the season and 8-7 in the Valley
- The win over the Panthers halted a 3-game skid; before that, ISU won six out of eight games
- Tyreke Key continues to pace the Sycamores with 16.1 points per game while ranking second with 4.8 rebounds per contest
- Jordan Barnes averages 12.5 PPG while leading the team with 98 assists
- On the rebounding side, Jake Laravia has 6.0 rebounds while recording a team-nest 29 blocks
- In Thursday's win over the Panthers, Key and Laravia posted 18 points apiece to lead ISU
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