Please join us beginning next week as we commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through a week-long celebration under the theme "Embracing Liberation: Radical Love for a United Community."

This year, UE is collaborating with multiple organizations, and we encourage our UE family to take part in the community-wide commemoration. Please see graphic for more community-wide details.

Highlights:

• Saturday, January 13:
  • 9:00 a.m. - UE MLK Day of Service for UE Students, Faculty, and Staff

• Monday, January 15:
  • 8:30 a.m. – Faith-based service in Neu Chapel
  • 9:45 a.m. – Rally at Meeks Family Fieldhouse
  • 10:00 a.m. – Symbolic March

• Wednesday, January 17:
  • 11:30 a.m. – Luncheon in Eykamp Hall featuring the William G. and Rose M. Mays Lectureship, 2024 Mays Legacy Award, and Rising Star Service Award presentations.

• Saturday, January 20:
  • 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. – UE Inaugural Conference on Community Solidarity open to all Evansville community members.

Register for Enhanced Participation: To enhance your experience, we encourage you to register for the day of serivce, luncheon and conference through the provided buttons by visiting www.evansville.edu/MLK. All on-campus events are free and open to all UE community members and guests.

For any questions, please reach out to the Center for Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Center4DEI@evansville.edu

Please welcome Alexa Ferguson as Executive Assistant to Dr. Rob Shelby, Vice President for Talent & Community and Chief Inclusion & Equity Officer. Alexa received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern Indiana and a Master of Education from Oakland City University. Alexa previously worked for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation as an educator and counselor. Alexa brings a strong background in project management, team collaboration and organization to her new role. Alexa, welcome to campus!

Aces, make sure to place your Spring textbook orders NOW if you want them before classes begin!

Once you place your orders and it’s January 5th, as long as you have the SECOND email stating the order is ready, bring your phone with the 2nd email along with your student ID/drivers license for preorder pick-up.

Athletes on book scholarship: Once the 5th hits and you have your email receipt, bring your phone with that email pulled up and your student ID in to grab your books!

All other students will have to wait until the 8th to get their books in person!

Anthropologist and UE professor Kyle Clark published new research over the break detailing some of the supernatural beings claimed by the Iban of Borneo. The article is open-access and available for anyone to read for free at this link:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33736/jbk.6147.2023

Alejandro Malla, U. E. student majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics, has two newly published sequences in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequents (OEIS) -- you can see it them here: https://oeis.org/A367309 and https://oeis.org/A367310. Malla discovered these sequences while writing computer programs for one of his current courses (Real Analysis, Math 420). At least three past U. E. students have sequences published in the OEIS: Karen Wangel (https://oeis.org/A022559, published in 1998), Melia Aldridge (https://oeis.org/A020330, in 2000), and Michelle Huff (https://oeis.org/A277754, in 2016). The OEIS is an immense database founded by Neil J. A. Sloane in 1964. For details, visit the Welcome page: https://oeis.org/wiki/Welcome.

Faculty, staff, and administration can visit the UE Ticket Office in the Carson Center today until 5 PM to pick-up free tickets for Saturday’s men’s basketball game against Murray State at the Ford Center!

All UE Faculty/Staff/Administration receive two free tickets with their UE ID!

Help us Fill the Ford!

In its first home game of the New Year, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team welcomes Murray State to the Ford Center on Saturday afternoon.  Tip is set for 1 p.m. CT with ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network having the coverage.

Last Time Out

- Indiana State scored the first eight points on Wednesday and would take the victory by a final of 87-73

- Trailing by as many as 25 points in the second half, the Purple Aces utilized a 19-2 run to cut the deficit to just eight with two minutes remaining

- Yacine Toumi led all players with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Kenny Strawbridge Jr. scored 15

- Cam Haffner tallied a season-high of 11 points and Antonio Thomas wrapped up the game with 10

Another Double-Double

- Yacine Toumi has been on an absolute roll over the last five games, averaging 15.0 points and 8.6 rebounds

- He has two double-doubles in the last three games, including a 19-point, 10-rebound performance at Indiana State

- Toumi was 9-for-13 from the field against the Sycamores and has converted 22 of his last 33 attempts over the last three games, an astonishing 66.7%

- His current double-figure streak has reached six games with an average of 14.7 PPG over that span; in the five games prior, he posted just 5.4 PPG

- Toumi continues to lead the team with an average of 6.6 boards while his 11.3 points per game is second for the Aces

Big-Time Honor for Coach Rags

- UE head coach David Ragland was the recipient of the Ben Jobe Award Mid-Season Honors on January 3

- The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority Division I head coach with the presentation taking place at the Final Four

- Ragland was the mid-season honoree following an impressive start to the season

Season-High

- Cam Haffner put together his top game of the season at Indiana State, registering 11 points while connecting on three of his six attempts from long range

- Increased playing time benefited Haffner, who saw a season-high 29:05 of floor time in Terre Haute

- Prior to the game, Haffner missed 13 triples in a row over a 5-game stretch

- His previous season mark of 10 points came in the road win at SEMO where he shot 4-of-9 from the field and 2-4 from outside

- Haffner has started all 14 games for UE

Scouting the Opponent

- Murray State enters Saturday’s game with a 5-9 record and have picked wins on two of their three MVC contests thus far

- The Racers dealt Bradley its first loss of the year in December and most recently defeated UIC by an 75-83 final on Tuesday

- All five of their wins have come at home

- Five players average double figures with Rob Perry leading the squad with 14.0 points per game

- JaCobi Wood and Brian Moore Jr. averaged 12.7 and 12.2 PPG respectively

- Nick Ellington checks in with 10.3 PPG and a team-high 6.5 boards per contest

Trailing by as many as 25 points in the second half, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team cut the gap to just eight points in the final minutes before Indiana State completed the night with an 87-73 win on Wednesday inside the Hulman Center.

Posting a game-high 19 points, Yacine Toumi led the way for the Purple Aces.  He was 9-of-13 from the field and registered 10 boards on the way to his second double-double in the last three games.  Kenny Strawbridge Jr. scored 15 points while Cam Haffner posted a season-high of 11.  Antonio Thomas ended the game with 10.

“Our league is really good and there is a reason Indiana State is on top of it.  It starts in transition, I thought we let them get out in transition early and it really opened things up for them,” Purple Aces head men’s basketball coach David Ragland said.  “I am proud of how we responded in the second half.  To be down by 25 and cut that to eight points on the road was a positive for us.  We will learn from it and get better.”

Five Sycamores reached double figures with Jayson Kent and Isaiah Swope tallying 18 apiece.  ISU shot 48.3% in the game while UE finished at 45.7%.  On the boards, ISU finished with a 40-33 advantage.

Indiana State scored the first eight points of the night while the Aces missed their opening four attempts while turning it over once.  Cam Haffner got Evansville on the board with a triple at the 16:44 mark.  The Sycamores added to their lead with their fourth 3-pointer of the evening pushing the advantage to 20-8 just over seven minutes into the half.

Yacine Toumi picked up consecutive field goals while Chuck Bailey III added his first score of the night to cap a 6-0 run over the next minute of play.  With 11:12 on the clock, Kenny Strawbridge Jr. connected from downtown to cut the deficit to five – 22-17.  At the 7:33 mark, the seventh triple made it a 12-point game once again (35-23), but UE answered once again when Toumi drove to the basket for a bucket to make it a 38-31 contest.

It was Toumi converting his sixth field goal to make it a 40-35 game inside the 4-minute mark before the Sycamores rallied with a last-second basket to take a 48-37 advantage into the break.  Toumi led everyone with 12 in the period while three ISU players registered 10 apiece in the opening 20 minutes.

Josh Hughes drained a triple on the opening possession of the second half, but the Sycamores bounced back to take a game-high lead of 14 points (56-42) inside the first four minutes of the stanza.  Antonio Thomas scored on a drive to cut the deficit back down to 12 on the ensuing trip down the floor.

Unfortunately, things continued to go the way of ISU as an 8-0 stretch pushed their advantage to 20 points for the first time at 67-46 inside of 13 minutes remaining.  After the Sycamores went up by a 78-53 margin with 8:27 left in the contest, Evansville worked its way back.  At one point, the offense hit five shots in a row to make it an 80-64 game before Haffner picked up his second triple of the game to get within 13.

As the clock approached three minutes remaining, Haffner was true from downtown once again and it was Toumi knocking down a jumper to get within eight with just over two minutes remaining.  In total, a 19-2 run saw Evansville turn a 78-53 deficit into just an 80-72 game.  Despite the strong attempt, the comeback came up short as the Sycamores fended off the challenge to take the 87-73 decision.

UE’s first home game of the New Year will see them face Murray State in a 1 p.m. game on Saturday inside the Ford Center.

The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Wednesday that Meeks Family Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Evansville will be a stop on the St. Louis Cardinals’ Caravan on Sunday, January 14.  The event will begin at 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. and there will be autographs available for kids, and fun for all Cardinals fans.  Members of the UE baseball and softball teams will also be in attendance, and fans are encouraged to bring cash for a cash-only raffle where fans can win Cardinals’ swag, with proceeds from the raffle going to benefit the UE programs.

UE will host a stop in Caravan Six, which is scheduled to include St. Louis players Alec Burleson, Drew Rom, Tink Hence and Sem Robberse, and Cardinal alumni Jason Simontacchi and Xavier Scruggs, with Polo Ascencio serving as the emcee.

Anyone with questions should contact the UE athletic department ticket office by phone at 812-488-2623.

University of Evansville head men’s basketball coach David Ragland has been recognized with Ben Jobe Mid-Season Honors.  At the completion of the season, the award is presented to the top minority head coach at the Division I level.  The 2024 award will be announced in April in Phoenix, Ariz., the site of the Men’s Basketball Division I NCAA National Championship.

While the Purple Aces season is less than two months in, it has already provided numerous highlights as the program continues to make enormous strides.  For the first time in five seasons, the Aces have won double digit games, earning win #10 of 2023 with an 82-51 victory over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 20.  With the win, UE clinched its first 10-win season since earning 11 victories in 2018-19; the 10th win also doubled the win total from the entirety of last season.

“This is completely a team award. A person is only as good as the people around them,” Ragland exclaimed.  “I am thankful to have a talented, hard-working, connected and available staff. We mentor a group of self-starters that show up and work extremely hard to be the best version of themselves daily.”

Evansville has won its first six home games for the first time since 2017; UE opened each season between 2015 and 2018 with wins in their opening six home contests.  Victories over Chattanooga and Southeast Missouri State in the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Classic saw the Purple Aces improve to 6-0 on the season, marking the first time UE has won its first six games since the 1964-65 undefeated national championship team.

Ragland and his staff have directed their student-athletes to a total of six Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards this season.  Off the court, the team has performed just as well in the classroom.  In the fall of 2023, the men’s basketball program finished with a 3.22 GPA.

“Evansville basketball needed a culture change and David Ragland is delivering,” said Angela Lento, Vice President of College Insider.” Coach Ragland laid the foundation during a tough 2022-23 season and now it’s producing results. Picked to finish near the bottom of the Missouri Valley Conference, Ragland has Evansville positioned to contend in one of the toughest mid-major leagues in college basketball.”

The Ben Jobe Award is named in honor of one the most iconic coaches in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is best known as the head coach of the Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He was also head coach at Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee and South Carolina State.

His record at Southern was 209-141 and included four NCAA Tournament appearances. He also coached the Jaguars to one NIT appearance, five SIAC championships, 11 SWAC titles and two NAIA Tournament Championships. Perhaps his most memorable moment as a coach was leading No. 15 seed Southern to a 93-78 win over No. 2 Georgia Tech in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. It stands as one of the great upsets in the history of the event.

Coach Jobe passed away on March 10, 2017.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.

Evansville hopes to start 2024 off with a bang by ending an almost decade-long losing streak to the Northern Iowa Panthers. UE's first Missouri Valley Conference game on the road comes against
the preseason favorites on Thursday evening.

The Panthers come into this week's game with a lone win against Green Bay after a heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss to Missouri State on Saturday. Despite a 1-9 record, UNI has faced stiff competition in non-conference action. The Panthers have played seven teams within the NET Top 100 and four with a Top 50 NET ranking. On offense, UNI is led by junior point guard Maya McDermott with 13.9 points a game while junior forward Grace Boffeli leads the team on defense with 6.5 rebounds per game. Boffeli has not played in the Panthers' past four games. 

On Saturday, the Aces will face off against last year's Hoops in the Heartland Champions, the Drake Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are one of two teams leading the Valley in overall record at 8-4 along with Belmont. Drake won its first conference game of the season against Southern Illinois on the road. The Bulldogs are one of the most effective offenses in the country averaging 82.6 points a game for 20th in the nation and a 49.5% field goal percentage for 11th. Drake is led by point guard Katie Dinnebier's 19.8 points per game, while junior Anna Miller leads the way on defense with 8.6 rebounds a game.

UE struggled to find its offense in its first MVC game of the year on Saturday night. The Aces cold start led to only 22% shooting from the floor in their conference opener at home in the 66-49 loss. In Saturday's loss, Evansville didn't have a field goal in the first quarter. UE's only points in the first 10 minutes came at the line, as the Aces went 6-of-6 to open the game. Evansville's first field goal came from point guard Kynidi Mason Striverson in the first 31 seconds of the second quarter.

Mason Striverson continues to be the offensive leader for UE after the first Valley game of the season. The sophomore has been averaging just under 16 points through 12 games and is good for fifth in the conference in scoring. The Aces have another player in the Top 5 in the Valley on the defensive side of the ball. Freshman forward Maggie Hartwig is 5th in the MVC in rebounding, averaging 7.9 boards a game.