It is back to the road for the final time before Christmas for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team when they travel to Murray State for a 7:00 p.m. game this evening. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ with live audio available on the Purple Aces Radio Network.
“Murray State is a tough team. They have some elite athletes that can really play above the rim and shoot the ball. They are all very aggressive and can score the basketball and get to the paint,” UE head coach Walter McCarty said. “They have legitimate bigs that can score inside. We have our work cut out for us, they are playing very well and are coached really well. We have to make sure that we do everything in our power to play a solid game and play to our strengths.”
Setting the Scene
- The Aces travel to Murray, Ky. looking for their first road win of the season
- UE has picked up just four road wins in 17 road games against the Racers
- Evansville has won the last two meetings against MSU, earning an 85-81 overtime win in 2015 before defeating the Racers, by a 78-46 final in a 2016 meeting inside the Ford Center
- The programs have met in five of the last six seasons; before that, they met just twice in the previous 19 campaigns
Last Time Out
- A defensive showdown at the Ford Center saw UE drop its first home game to Jacksonville State by a 55-50 final
- The Aces defense played well, limiting the Gamecocks to just 35.0% shooting, but the Evansville offense shot just 30.8% with several shots that went in and out of the basket
- John Hall recorded his third double-double in the last four home games, scoring 14 points while grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds
- Shea Feehan tied Hall for the game-high with 14 points
Takeaways from Jacksonville State
- The game was the first time this season that a UE game has been decided by five points or less
- Evansville faced another halftime deficit, trailing 30-22, but rallied back to take a 40-38 lead in the second half
- The squad dropped to 0-4 this season when the bench is outscored by its counterparts
- UE dropped to 1-3 when finishing the game with a negative assist/turnover ratio
- As a team, the Aces posted a season-high 11 steals; it was the most for the program since posting 12 steals against Toledo in 2016
Double-Double Machine
- John Hall has been on an absolute roll as of late, posting three double-doubles in his last four games
- In six home contests this season, Hall has averaged 11.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game; in Saturday’s game against Jacksonville State, Hall grabbed a career-high 14 boards
- The Philadelphia native paces the MVC with 8.5 rebounds per game while his total of 7.5 defensive caroms 15th in the country
- Three-point shooting has become a specialty for Hall, who has hit 5 of his last 9 attempts from outside in the last two games
- He is averaging 10 rebounds per game in the last seven contests
Scouting the Opponent
- Murray State is 7-1 in 2018 and have won their last four games; the only set back for the Racers was a 78-72 loss at Alabama
- Ja Morant is one of the top players in the nation, leading the Racers with 22.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game
- His assist average is tops in the country
- Defensively, Murray State allows its opponents to shoot just 20.5% from outside, the lowest average in the nation; MSU’s opponents shoot just 35.1%, a defensive tally that is second in the NCAA
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