EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Wrapping up a week on the road, the University of Evansville men's basketball team will be in Murray, Ky. on Saturday to face Murray State. Tip is set for 3 p.m. CT with the Purple Aces Radio Network and ESPN+ having the coverage.
Setting the Scene
- UE looks to avenge a 78-61 home loss to the Racers on New Year's Day
- MSU opened the game on a 23-1 run and would never relinquish the advantage over the duration of the contest
- Four Purple Aces reached double figures in the game, led by Marvin Coleman II's 14 tallies
- The last three games between the squads in Murray have been decided by an average of 2.7 points
Last Time Out
- Belmont scored the opening six points and never looked back, taking a 95-63 win over UE on Wednesday evening in Nashville
- Marvin Coleman II and Gage Bobe recorded 15 and 14 points, respectively
- The Bruins hauled in 51 boards, the most any team has had this season against UE
Two Out of Three Ain't Bad
- Preston Phillips reset his career scoring high with 11 points at Belmont on Feb. 16
- It marked the second double digit game of his UE career, both coming in the last three outings
- Going 5-for-8 from the floor in Nashville, Phillips scored 11 while adding 7 boards
- In a game that his teammates said was the best they saw him play, Phillips recorded 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the win over UNI while adding 3 steals, 3 rebounds and a pair of assists
Sharpshooter
- Hitting 10 of his last 19 attempts from long range, Gage Bobe is shooting 38.4% on the season but is even better in the MVC
- Bobe ranks second in conference games, shooting 44.9% from 3-point range
- For the fifth time this season, he reached double figures as he registered 14 at Belmont; four of those have come in the last nine games
- His top career game came at Valpo as he scored 22 points while draining six of his 11 3-point tries and seeing 36:49 of work
- Over the last six games, Bobe has knocked down 17 of his 37 3-point tries
- He is a 38.4% outside shooter on the season but after starting the season hitting 3 of his first 22 attempts (13.6%), he has knocked down 31 of the last 67 (46.03%) since Dec. 21
Scouting the Opponent
- Murray State halted a 3-game losing streak on Wednesday with a 76-75 road win at Illinois State
- The Racers are currently 14-13 overall and 9-8 in the Valley
- Rob Perry leads three double figure scorers for MSU with 14.8 points per game and has converted a team-best 51 triples this season
- Jamari Smith follows with 11.6 PPG while JaCobi Woods checks in at 10.8
- DJ Burns leads the Racers with 6.7 rebounds per contest
- Perry and Smith were the top performers for Murray State in the first meeting on New Year's Day, recording 14 points each
