NORMAL, Ill. – The University of Evansville men's basketball team rings in the New Year on Thursday afternoon with a 2 p.m. game at Illinois State. ESPN+ and Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast.
Last Time Out
- After opening Monday's game at Bradley on a 13-0 run, the Purple Aces battled to the finish before dropping a 76-68 decision
- AJ Casey had a career night, converting 8 of his 11 attempts on his way to 21 points
- Josh Hughes drained four 3-pointers and tallied 14 points and 7 caroms while Bryce Quinet finished the night with 11 points
12 and Over
- Through his first three MVC games, AJ Casey is averaging 15 points per game
- After scoring 12 in the opening two league games, Casey registered a career-high 21 points at Bradley on 8-of-11 shooting
- Casey now has seven double digit games on the season and is averaging 9.4 PPG
- Casey picked up three steals in the first two MVC games and is 8th in the league with his season average of 1.43/game
- He is UE's second-leading rebounder with 5.4 per game including 11 versus Ball State
- Casey is 14th in the MVC with 5.43 boards/game and is 5th in offensive rbs (2.50/gm)
Making his Mark
- Alex Hemenway hit three more triples in the road game at Bradley on the way to a 9-point game
- Over his last seven games, Hemenway is averaging 8.3 PPG while going 14-of-33 from downtown
- He is shooting 36.1% from long range on the season tying him for 13th in the Valley
Triple Play
- Looking to regain the edge he had in the opening games of the season, Josh Hughes has started to find his shot from long range
- Over the last four games, Hughes has converted 9 of his 19 3-point tries
- He opened the season averaging 13.2 PPG through the first six games while scoring at least 12 points in each contest
- In the last eight games, Hughes has reached double figures just twice and is averaging 6.6 PPG
- His top games over that stretch were 14 points at Notre Dame and Bradley
Scouting the Opponent
- Illinois State opens the New Year with a record of 11-3 while sitting at a perfect 3-0 in Valley play
- The Redbirds have road victories over Southern Illinois and Drake while defeating Indiana State at home on Dec. 21 by a final score of 85-65
- Five Redbirds average double figures in scoring with Chase Walker pacing the team with 12.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game
- Johnny Kinziger is just behind him with 12.4 PPG while Ty Pence checks in with an average of 11.6 PPG
- Boden Skunberg and Ty'Reek Coleman average 10.8 and 10.2 points, respectively
