EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the first time since 2005, the University of Evansville men's basketball team will square off against Purdue as the squads meet up on Tuesday evening inside Mackey Arena with a 5:30 p.m. CST tip. The Big Ten Network and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast.
Season Opener
-Tuesday will tip off the 107th season
of Aces basketball
- In 106 previous season openers, the Aces
are 69-37
- This year marks the fifth time in six years that UE has opened the season on the road
- The last road win in a season opener came in 2022 when the Aces finished with a 78-74 win at Miami Ohio
It's Been A While
- UE and Purdue meet up for the first time in 20 years on Tuesday
- The last meeting came on Dec. 3, 2005 when Evansville earned a 75-69 win at Roberts Stadium
- Overall, the teams have met on 14 occasions with the Boilermakers leading by a 9-5 margin
- In the last meeting between the teams in West Lafayette, Purdue finished with an 82-62 triumph to improve to 4-0 in home games against the Aces
Facing #1
- Tuesday marks the fourth time in program history that the Aces face the top ranked team in the nation
- The last team UE faced the #1 team came on Nov. 12, 2019 when the Aces defeated Kentucky by a 67-64 final inside Rupp Arena
- Evansville's match-ups against top-ranked teams include:
11/12/19 at #1 Kentucky W 67-64
12/18/08 at #1 UNC L 73-91
2/26/80 at #1 DePaul L 94-105
Exhibition Recap
- In its preseason tune-up, the Aces took on Henderson State on Oct. 25 earning a 90-74 victory at the Ford Center
- Josh Hughes and Keishon Porter tied for the game high with 22 points apiece
- Hughes was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line and dished out five assists
- Porter converted 10 of his 18 attempts and posted nine caroms
- Freshman Leif Moeller scored 21 points while AJ Casey added 16 points and 11 boards
- After the Reddies made it a 74-70 contest with just over seven minutes remaining, UE finished the game on a 16-4 run to win by 16 points
Scouting the Opponent
- Purdue enters the 2025-26 season as the #1 team in the nation in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches Polls
- The Boilermakers went 24-12 last season and came up just short of a berth in the Elite Eight as they dropped a 62-60 contest to #2 seed Houston
- Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith posted 15.8 points, 8.7 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game last season
- He was the Big Ten Player of the Year and consensus First Team All-American
- Trey Kaufman-Renn led the team with 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last year
