EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Road play continues for the University of Evansville men's basketball team with a rematch against UIC on Wednesday in Chicago. Tip is set for 7 p.m. CT with ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network on the call.
Last Time Out
- Illinois State went 13-of-24 from long range to take an 86-79 win on Sunday inside CEFCU Arena
- The Redbirds converted their first seven outside attempts and led by as many as 15 points in the first half
- Trailing by eight at halftime, the Purple Aces stormed back to take a second-half lead before ISU pulled away late
- Ben Humrichous recorded 21 points, all coming in the second half
- Cam Haffner matched his season scoring mark with 11, all in the opening 20 minutes
Efficient Efforts
- Yacine Toumi was 6-of-8 from the field on his way to 13 points at Illinois State
- That followed a 10-point game against Drake; prior to that game, Toumi posted 6.5 PPG in the last two contests
- After scoring 20 points three times at UE, Toumi reset his high with 22 points against UIC on 8-of-10 shooting
- His season shooting mark of 57.3% ranks 6th in the MVC
Second Half Heroics
- Ben Humrichous was held scoreless in the first half at Illinois State before erupting for 21 points in the final 20 minutes
- He finished the game 8-of-15 from the field and converted five 3-pointers; it was his first 20-point game since posting 27 against SEMO in Chattanooga
- That came on the heels of an 18-point effort versus Drake, his best since tallying 18 against UNI on Dec. 2
- Humrichous is returning to form with 16.8 PPG over the last four games
Tying his Mark
- In the first half at Illinois State, Cam Haffner was 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from outside on his way to 11 points, tying his season mark, which came at Indiana State
- Haffner knocked down back-to-back triples in the first half against Bradley, capping a 15-2 start to the game by UE
- He entered the game missing five 3-pointers in a row while scoring a total of 2 points in the 3 prior games
Scouting the Opponent
- Winners of two of their last four games, UIC holds a 10-17 record entering Wednesday's game while standing at 3-13 in Valley action
- Before dropping its last two games to Bradley and Belmont, the Flames earned a road win at Illinois State before taking an impressive 71-65 home win over UNI on February 11 at Credit Union 1 Arena
- Isaiah Rivera leads a trio of double figure scorers with 14.8 points per game
- CJ Jones is second with 11.3 PPG while leading the squad with a total of 120 assists on the season
- Toby Okani checks in with 10.5 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds
