EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A trip to Cape Girardeau, Mo. is on tap for the University of Evansville men's basketball team, who will take on Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday evening in a 6:30 p.m. contest inside the Show Me Center. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.
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Last Time Out
- On Saturday, the Purple Aces were able to grind out a 59-51 win over Tennessee Tech at the Ford Center
- UE led by as many as 8 points in the second half before the Golden Eagles stormed back to get within one with 1:50 remaining
- Antoine Smith Jr. connected on a triple that put the UE lead back at four points before the Aces pulled away for the win
- Jawaun Newton and Shamar Givance led the Aces with 15 points and 7 rebounds apiece while Smith and Blake Sisley registered 12 points each
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Player of the Week
- For the second time in his career, Shamar Givance was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday following his efforts against SIU and Tennessee Tech
- Givance went off for 31 points versus the Salukis just three days after posting what was a career mark of 26 at EIU
- He followed that up with a 15-point, 7-rebound tally in the win over the Golden Eagles while adding 3 assists and 3 steals
- The senior is averaging 24 points per game over the last two outings and ranks 9th in the MVC in scoring
- The senior continues to pace the squad in assists and steals...his 3.6 assists/game ranks 7th in the MVC while his average of 1.6 steals is third in the league
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Newcomer Award
- Antoine Smith Jr. earned MVC Newcomer of the Week recognition on Nov. 29 and has continued to play well since that time
- After opening the season going 1-for-8 from the field, Smith has converted 28 of his last 47 attempts - 59.6%
- From outside, Smith hit 3 of first 10 attempts but has drained 16 of his last 29
- Smith knocked down 4 out of 6 3-point tries against TTU to improve his season shooting mark to 48.7%, 4th in the MVC
- In four games leading to his Nov. 29 newcomer award, Smith averaged 13.5 points per game and reached double figures on three occasions
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Biding his Time
- Freshman Blake Sisley is coming off of his top performance against Tennessee Tech where he knocked down 5 out of 6 attempts (2/3 from outside) on his way to 12 points
- In his first six appearance prior to that game, he scored a total of three points while going 1-for-9 from the field
- Sisley has earned more playing time over the last three games, playing at least 12 minutes on two occasions
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Checking all the Boxes
- It has been an unbelievable stretch for Jawaun Newton who has averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last six contests
- He opened the Gulf Coast Showcase with a career-high of 30 points, marking the Aces first such effort since 2019
- It took until his 89th game to record the first double-double of his career, but #2 came just four days later...Newton registered 19 points and 10 boards on Nov. 24 versus Akron and followed that up with 13 points and 12 caroms at EIU
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Scouting the Opponent
- Southeast Missouri State comes into Wednesday's game with an even 4-4 mark after defeating Webster by a final of 76-64 on Saturday
- The win ended a 2-game skid following losses to Montana State and Portland in the Incarnate Word Tournament in San Antonio
- SEMO opened the season with a 99-94 road win at Missouri State
- Eric Reed Jr. leads the Redhawks with 16.3 points per game with Phillip Russell and Chris Harris also recording double figures with 12.1 and 11.1 PPG, respectively
- Nygal Russell has a team-best 6.1 caroms per contest
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- INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville athletics, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics.Â
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