In a nationally-televised contest, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team welcomes defending league champion Loyola to the Ford Center for a 7:00 p.m. game tonight. CBS Sports Network will have the broadcast.
Setting the Scene
- Evansville has won 7 of its first 8 home games this season
- UE is 14-10 in 24 home contests against the Ramblers
- The defense is off to an excellent start in Valley play, holding the first two opponents to just 37.3% shooting overall and 20.5% (9-of-44) from long range
Last Time Out
- Illinois State picked up a 58-46 win over the Aces on Saturday
- Evansville shot 32.7% from the field in the game while going 7-of-26 (26.9%) from outside
- Evan Kuhlman and Marty Hill posted 14 points apiece; it was a career-high for Kuhlman
- Trailing by four at the half, UE closed within one in the second half before the Redbirds pulled away
- UE had 16 turnovers in the game and dropped to 1-3 when turning the ball over more than the opponent this season
Takeaways from Illinois State
- Sophomore Evan Kuhlman set career marks with 14 points and 33 minutes of work; he added 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot
- Marty Hill tallied 14 points hitting six buckets including two triples
- The bench for UE did not record a point for the first time this season; the ISU bench scored just four points; Evansville is 1-6 this season when losing the battle of bench points
- UE is also 1-6 this year when being outscored in the paint
Home Cooking
- Over the last two games, Evan Kuhlman has averaged 12 points per game while connected on 8 of his last 14 attempts and 5 out of 9 3-point tries
- Included in that tally is a career-high 14 points at Illinois State as he connected on three treys and all three free throw tries
- Kuhlman scored 12 points while going 4-for-6 from outside at Xavier in front of his home town crowd
- It was his first double figure scoring game at UE; he scored 11 in the win over Ball State and added 10 against Drake
- In another road game near his home (Miami OH), Kuhlman set his career mark with three assists
- Kuhlman has registered 5 or more points in 11 out of 15 games
Scouting the Opponent
- Coming off of a run to the Final Four last season, Loyola comes to the Ford Center with a 9-6 record and have won their first two conference games
- After earning a 79-44 win over Indiana State, Loyola won by an 85-74 final at Drake on Saturday
- Clayton Custer leads the Ramblers with 14.5 points per game; he is the reigning MVC Player of the Year
- Marques Townes has posted 13.9 points while Cameron Krutwig checks in with 13.6 PPG
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