EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Looking for its first regular season sweep over Indiana State in 11 years, the University of Evansville men's basketball team welcomes the Sycamores to the Ford Center on Thursday for a 6 p.m. contest. ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage.
Last Time Out
- Leading for a total of 31 minutes, the Purple Aces picked up their first road win over Indiana State since 2011 on Tuesday, taking down the Sycamores by a final of 65-56 at the Hulman Center
- Taking matters into his own hands, Shamar Givance scored 19 points while adding 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals
- Antoine Smith Jr. knocked down all three of his attempts to finish with 10 points while Evan Kuhlman and Blake Sisley scored 9 apiece with Preston Phillips and Noah Frederking each scoring 8 points
- UE led by 10 at the half before ISU rallied to take a 50-48 lead midway through the second half...the Aces countered with a 9-0 stretch on their way to the win
Notes from the W in Terre Haute
- UE ended a 10-game road skid against Indiana State on Feb. 8, finishing with a 65-56 win
- The last win prior to that came on Jan. 26, 2011 - 4,031 days in between wins at the Hulman Center
- Evansville's defense held Indiana State to 0-for-17 from 3-point range and was the first time since 2008 vs. DePauw that ISU did not hit a triple
- Neither team had an offensive rebound in the game and according to Ken Pomeroy - it is believed to be the first time this has happened in the NCAA since offensive rebounds became an official stat in the early 1990's that neither team was credited with one...the previous low was a combined two offensive rebounds (Columbia at Princeton - 2/18/06)
Making it Count
- Gage Bobe hit one shot in the win at Indiana State but it was a big one
- With UE up two with just over three minutes remaining, Bobe grabbed a ball after it was poked away from Shamar Givance and heaved up a shot at the buzzer to double the lead
- From there, the Aces held strong in the 9-point win
- Bobe played his top total of 35:24 in the victory
Taking Control
- Senior Shamar Givance had his top offensive contest in two months, scoring 19 points while leading UE to a road win at Indiana State on Feb. 8
- It was his best performance since his career game against SIU on Dec. 1 where he scored 31
- Givance added four assists in the win while playing over 38 out of 40 minutes
- Entering the game, Givance scored six points or fewer in three out of five games before erupting for 19
Big Buckets
- In the road win at Indiana State, Blake Sisley hit four of his six attempts on the way to nine points
- His hook shots in the second half of the contest were pivotal as they each broke a tie score
- Sisley has seen his playing time go up as the season has moved along with his top tally of 24:33 coming against Drake...he has played at least 10 minutes in each of the last 12 games after averaging just over six minutes in his first six games as a freshman
Scouting the Opponent
- Indiana State dropped a 65-56 decision to the Purple Aces on Tuesday in Terre Haute
- The Sycamores shot 46.8% from the field and 22-of-30 from inside, but were 0-for-17 from long range and failed to hit a 3-pointer for the first time since a contest against DePauw in 2008
- A 15-point effort by Cameron Henry on Tuesday led the Sycamores as his season average continues to stand at 15.0 PPG
- Henry, who is also their leading rebounder with 5.6 boards per game, scored a career-high 28 points last Saturday at Valparaiso
- Just behind him is Cooper Neese, who is averaging 14.3 points per contest
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