EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Looking for its first win in the State of Iowa since 2016, the University of Evansville men's basketball team travels to Des Moines for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday at Drake. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.
Schedule Update
- Schedule adjustments have been set following last week's postponement
- UE will face the Beacons on Feb. 19 at the Ford Center with a new start time of 1 p.m.
- The road game is set for Monday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
In a Zone
- Entering Thursday's game against Indiana State, Blaise Beauchamp 6.0 points per game, but a huge spurt saw him raise his season mark by 1.5 points in a 2-game stretch that saw him average 24 PPG
- He had the top game of his career on Thursday, scoring 29 in the double overtime game vs. INS, going 8-for-15 from the field while hitting six triples
- Beauchamp followed that up with 19 points at SIU on a 7-of-13 shooting performance and 3/4 finish from 3-point distance
- His effectiveness has been better when he is in the starting lineup with his scoring average in four starts sitting at 15.5 PPG...in games he comes off the bench, his scoring checks in at 5.9 PPG
Finding his Consistency
- In a 5-game stretch between 1/21 and 2/5, Shamar Givance scored six or few points in three of those contests
- Over the last three outings, Givance has scored at least 17 points in each game while averaging 6.0 rebounds & 4.7 assists
- He has averaged 40.9 minutes over that time while tallying 14 helpers and 7 TO's
- The latest streak raised his season average to a team-best 14.1 PPG, which ranks 11th in the MVC
- At SIU, Givance added six assists, marking the 7th time in eight games that he has had at least four helpers...his season mark of 3.8 ast/gm is 5th in the Valley
Trending Upward
- Over the last three games, Evansville has averaged 68.0 points per game in a strong offensive turnaround
- The nine games between 1/2 and 2/5 saw UE post 53.9 PPG while scoring 61 or fewer in each contest
- As a team, the Aces are shooting 43.5% in the last three while hitting 41.4% of their 3-point tries...in the 9-game stretch, UE shot 36.7% overall and 30.1% from long range
- Evansville was outscored by just 0.3 PPG in the last three while that number rose to 19.2 points in the nine prior
Finishing Strong
- An 18-point game at SIU marked Evan Kuhlman's top performance since his career game against DePauw in November
- Kuhlman was 5-of-9 from the field on his way to the 18-point game vs. the Salukis
- He continued his strong 3-point shooting going 3-of-6 in the game and has knocked down 12 of his last 26 beyond the arc
- Over the last seven games, Kuhlman has recorded an average of 9.6 points per game while improving his season tally to 7.0 PPG
Scouting the Opponent
- Drake comes into Wednesday's contest having lost three in a row to fall to 17-9 and 8-5 in the MVC
- On Saturday, the Bulldogs dropped a 68-59 game at Bradley and fell to Missouri State (62-66) and UNI (69-74 OT) prior to that
- Freshman Tucker DeVries continues to lead the team with 13.6 points per game
- He was the leading scorer in the first meeting this season against the Aces, scoring 15
- Garrett Sturtz checks in with a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game while ranking second with 11.0 PPG
- Roman Penn and D.J. Wilkins average 10.6 and 10.5 PPG, respectively
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