EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Looking to build off of the momentum from Sunday's win over Illinois State, the University of Evansville men's basketball team welcomes UNI to the Ford Center on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. contest. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.
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Last Time Out
- In a remarkable turnaround, the Purple Aces defeated Illinois State by a 56-53 final at home on Sunday, less than 48 hours after a 94-56 road defeat to the Redbirds
- An inspired defense held ISU to a season-low 53 points while forcing a season-high 21 turnovers
- Shamar Givance led the way for UE with 18 points and 4 assists while Noah Frederking and Evan Kuhlman finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively
- While Frederking led the team with 7 caroms, Preston Phillips finished with six, including an offensive board with 29 seconds remaining that led to the game-winning shot by Givance
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What a Turnaround
- In a weekend home-and-home with Illinois State, the Purple Aces saw a massive turnaround over the course of 48 hours
- On Friday in Redbird Arena, ISU defeated UE by a final of 94-56 while shooting 70.2% from the field. A quick transition saw the squads match up on Sunday at the Ford Center and a focused UE squad earned a scrappy 56-53 win
- Interestingly enough, UE scored the same number of points in each game, but the defense held ISU to 41 fewer points on Sunday
- It was the top defensive improvement from one game to the next since 2017 (not including a pair of 3OT games) - following a 109-83 loss at Wichita State on 2/21/17, UE rebounded with a 65-63 home win over Indiana State on the 25th
- Evansville forced a season-low five turnovers in the road contest, but came back to force the highest turnover total of 21 in the home victory
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Clutch Rebounds
- What may have been the most important rebound of the season was hauled in by Preston Phillips in Sunday's win over Illinois State
- His offensive board with 26 seconds remaining in a tie game led to the game winner from Shamar Givance
- He finished the game with his second-highest total of six rebounds in the winning effort and has averaged 3.5 per game over the course of the season while finishing with 2+ caroms in all but one game he has played in
- Phillips has started five games in a row and seven overall
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Still Going Strong
- With 15 seconds remaining in a tie game on Sunday, Shamar Givance hit what would prove to be the game-winner in a 56-53 win over Illinois State
- The senior led UE with 18 points to improve his season average to 14.3 PPG, which ranks 8th in the MVC
- Givance remains in a tie for 4th in the Valley with 1.4 steals per game while his 3.7 assists/contest ranks 5th
- He continues to score at the top rate of his career with his average...as a junior he finished with 13.3 PPG
- In the MVC opener against SIU, he set his career mark with 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting and has scored in double figures in 14 out of 18 games this season
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Scouting the Opponent
- Back-to-back overtime losses have seen Northern Iowa drop to 9-9 on the season and 5-3 in Valley play
- On Saturday, the Panthers fell by an 82-74 final at home to Drake after an 83-80 defeat at Valpo last Wednesday
- Leading scorer AJ Green checks in with an average of 18.3 points per game and is coming off of a 27-point outing versus the Bulldogs
- Green has scored 22 or more in three of the last four games
- Noah Carter is averaging 13.9 PPG while Nate Heise sits with 10.3
- Heise along with Trae Berhow lead UNI with 5.0 rebounds per game
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