MURRAY, Ky. – Four players finished in double figures for the University of Evansville men's basketball team in an 88-73 setback at Murray State on Saturday afternoon inside the CFSB Center.

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Box Score

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Leading the way for the Purple Aces was AJ Casey. He scored 19 points while adding four assists and two steals. Josh Hughes recorded 16 points while Leif Moeller and Alex Hemenway registered 15 and 14 tallies, respectively. KJ Tenner and Roman Domon led Murray State with 20 points apiece.
 
"We competed extremely hard today and I am proud of the character our team has shown," UE head coach David Ragland explained after the game. "We just need to keep plugging away and finding ways to get better."
 
After Murray State jumped out to a 4-0 lead, triples by Alex Hemenway and Josh Hughes gave UE its first lead at 6-4. After AJ Casey knocked down a 3-pointer, Hemenway added his second to put the Aces in front at 12-7 four minutes into the game.
 
Up 14-10, Evansville reeled off 10 consecutive points to go up 24-10. Triples by Leif Moeller and Hemenway capped the run to give UE its largest lead at the 12:33 mark. Three minutes later, Casey got the job done on both ends of the floor as he forced a steal and converted a dunk to push the advantage back to 14 points – 28-14 – with 9:05 remaining in the half.
 
Murray State took advantage of three UE turnovers to score nine in a row to get within five inside of eight minutes left. Casey temporarily halted the run with a score before the Racers continued their rally. Javon Jackson hit a 3-pointer to get his squad back within one at 30-29 with 5:19 left until halftime.
 
Consecutive baskets by Josh Hughes pushed lead back up to five points before MSU pushed back once again. Trailing 36-31 with 3:23 on the clock, the Racers posted the final six points to take a 37-36 lead into the break.
 
The first basket of the second half belonged to the Racers, however, Hughes connected from downtown to tie the game before a Casey dunk put UE back in front at 41-39. On their ensuing trip down the floor, the Racers regained the lead with a triple at the 16:55 mark. Up 49-48, the took control with a 10-0 run that gave them their largest lead at 59-45 with 10:16 left in the game.
 
Entering the final three minutes, MSU took a 75-60 while Bryce Quinet quickly cut into it with a triple. The Racers went up by as many as 16 in the final minutes before the game finished with an 88-73 final.
 
UE outshot the Racers in the contest, hitting 47.5% of its attempts while holding the Racers to 41.7%. It was MSU outrebounding the Aces by a final tally of 37-26. UE is back on the road Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. CST game at Belmont.