EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Back on the road Saturday, the University of Evansville men's basketball team heads to Valparaiso to complete the season series against the Beacons. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT with the Purple Aces Radio Network and ESPN+ having the coverage.
Setting the Scene
- Just two weeks ago, the teams met at the Ford Center with Valpo earning a 76-69 victory
- Yacine Toumi recorded 18 points and 7 rebounds in the game while Antoine Smith Jr. scored 16
- Four Beacons registered double figures, led by Kobe King's 20-point effort
- Evansville has dropped its last two trips to The ARC by an average of just 3.5 points per game
Last Time Out
- Playing some of its best stretches of the conference season, the Purple Aces held a 22-13 lead over Belmont before the Bruins fended off the challenge for a 73-64 win on Wednesday
- Marvin Coleman II and Yacine Toumi recorded 15 points apiece while Antoine Smith Jr. scored 14 while adding his top career total of 9 boards
- In its opening game run that resulted in a 9-point lead, UE recorded 7 assists against just one turnover
On a Roll
- Antoine Smith Jr. has been on a nice streak over the last four games, recording an average of 11.3 points while draining 11 of his 22 tries from outside
- On the boards, he has been equally impressive, averaging 5.5 per game while raising his season average to 3.2
- Smith grabbed a career-high 9 caroms against Belmont, which bested his prior total of 8 against Valparaiso on Jan. 14
- With his recent shooting efforts from long range, Smith has pushed his season percentage to 40.9%
- Smith scored a season-high 16 points against Valparaiso and had 14 last time out against Belmont...he checks in with a season scoring average of 8.1 PPG
Raising the Bar
- Yacine Toumi has hauled in at least five rebounds in nine of the last 10 contests while raising his season average from 5.1 to 5.9 per game
- His top tally of 11 came in the win over Bellarmine while he added 7 against Valpo to solidify his mark of 5.9/game, which is 14th in the Valley
- Toumi scored 18 against the Beacons, which tied his career-high while halting a streak that saw him average 5 points in the prior three games
- That effort helped him put together a nice streak over the last four games that has seen him score 12.3 per game
Scouting the Opponent
- Valparaiso has won three of their last four games to improve to 9-13 on the season and 3-8 in the MVC
- Following a win over the Aces on January 14, the Beacons picked up wins over UIC and Illinois State before falling by a 77-66 score in Wednesday's road game at UNI
- Ben Krikke continues to be the most consistent performer for VU
- He paces the team with 17.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while blocking a total of 14 shots
- Kobe King checks in with 16.9 points and 4.0 boards while Quinton Green is also averaging double figures with 11 points
