K.J. Riley and Marty Hill had career nights to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team past Drake, 82-77, in a double overtime thriller in the Missouri Valley Conference opener at the Ford Center.
“I am so excited for our guys, they put a lot of work in. K.J. and Marty are gym rats and I am happy to see their work pay off,” Aces head coach Walter McCarty said. “They are two great leaders for our basketball team. All of our guys dug in and played really well together. The close games we played in non-conference really helped us tonight.”
Riley posted 25 points, hitting 13 out of 17 free throw attempts while Hill was lights out, hitting five out of his seven triples. Dainius Chatkevicius and Evan Kuhlman recorded 10 points apiece. The league’s leading rebounder - John Hall - added 10 more rebounds to his tally. For Riley, it marked his third straight game with 20 points or more and his ninth double digit scoring game in a row.
“This was a good win for us, it was a great team effort against a really good team,” Riley explained after the win. “We learned from mistakes in non-conference, we knew the little things we had to do tonight to win the game. We came out to prove that we can play with anyone in this conference.”
Playing in its first overtime game of the season, Evansville (7-7, 1-0 MVC) improved to 4-2 in its last six OT contests. It was the first double overtime game for the program since falling by an 83-79 final to Toledo in the 2016 Challenge in Music City. It was the first double OT home game since 2012 versus Indiana State.
Leading the Bulldogs (11-3, 0-1 MVC) was Nick McGlynn, who recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds. Tremell Murphy and Brady Ellingson had 15 points apiece.
Drake hit two of their first three shots to take a 4-0 lead before Evan Kuhlman got the Aces on the board. Kuhlman’s second make of the game, which came on a nice feed from Riley, gave the Aces their first lead of the night at 9-8.
After the Bulldogs retook a 13-9 advantage, Riley added three more tallies on an and-one to knot the score at 15-15 with 7:53 left. Drake went back ahead once again, taking their largest lead of the half at 22-16 on two free throws by Tremell Murphy. With DU up 30-24 heading into the final minute, the Aces closed the gap. Noah Frederking knocked down a pair of free throws before Marty Hill gave UE some momentum heading into the break. He took a steal the other way for a dunk. Hill was fouled on the attempt and hit the ensuing free throw to cut the Drake lead to 30-29 at the half.
Out of the break, the teams combined to miss their first 10 shots before Nick McGlynn got the Bulldogs on the board with a bucket to give them a 32-29 lead. Evan Kuhlman responded with a 3-pointer on the other end to tie the game before John Hall gave UE the lead with a floater. The Bulldogs went back in front, pushing their lead to 43-39 before the Aces rallied midway through the period.
John Hall found Chatkevicius for an open dunk before Marty Hill drained a three on the break to give Evansville a 44-43 lead. Chatkevicius struck again with another field goal to give the Aces a 46-43 advantage. Evansville’s lead held strong until an and-one from McGlynn gave Drake a 49-48 lead with under five minutes left.
Marty Hill did not let their lead last for long as he hit a triple out of the media timeout to put UE back in front at 51-49. Following a Bulldog bucket, Hill was true from long range once again as Evansville went up 54-51 with three minutes on the clock. Drake never relented, posting the next five buckets to take a 56-54 edge as the game closed in on the final minute. Riley quickly tied it up with a layup and, following a McGlynn bucket, calmly nailed two free throws to tie it at 58-58. A Drake miss from outside sent the game to a first overtime.
A 6-2 run for UE opened up the first extra period as the Aces lead stood at 64-60 with 1:34 left. Tremell Murphy hit a layup before Garrett Sturtz hit a pair from the charity stripe to knot the score at 64-64 and send the game to a second OT. This time, Evansville took an early lead and never let the foot off the gas. A Riley layup and Hill triple gave UE a quick 69-64 lead. A turning point came with 1:56 remaining in the second overtime. Two Drake free throws cut the UE lead to 73-67. Instead of sitting on the ball, the Aces pushed it down the floor with Shamar Givance finding Hill open for his fifth triple of the night. Evansville cruised from there, winning by the final of 82-77.
Entering the game, Marty Hill’s top contest was a 16-point effort at Arkansas State in December. Tonight, he eclipsed that mark with his 24 tallies. He put the evening into perspective for the program and the Evansville community.
“I am very happy with the way we played, we really came together. We made some big stops and made some big, winning plays, against one of the top teams in the MVC,” he said. “This shows how well we can play in tough games. We can really pull these tough games out. We are so focused on us and the guys in this locker room. We play every day for each other and our community!”
Next up for the Aces is a trip to Illinois State for a 3:00 p.m. contest on Saturday.
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