Illinois State (3-6, 0-3) vs. Evansville (6-5, 4-1) Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Evansville looks for its fifth straight conference win against.
Before Rupp Arena.before the Yum Center.before Memorial Coliseum.before Freedom Hall.before Diddle Arena there was the Sportscenter inOw-ensboro. Basketball for decades has been searching for the ultimate place to play and
KNBN NewsCenter1
January 4, 2021
Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana; Wednesday, 1 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: MVC foes meet as Drake battles Evansville. Both teams are coming off of home victories this past Sunday. Evansville earned a 70-64 win over Northern Iowa, while Drake won 73-55 over Southern Illinois.
SUPER SENIORS: Drake has relied heavily on its seniors. Shanquan Hemphill, Roman Penn, D.J. Wilkins and Tremell Murphy have collectively accounted for 55 percent of the team’s scoring this year and 64 percent of all Bulldogs points over the team’s last five games.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Purple Aces have given up only 65 points per game to conference opponents thus far, an improvement from the 72.7 per game they allowed in non-conference play.SHAMAR CAN SHOOT: Shamar Givance has connected on 37.9 percent of the 29 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 6 of 11 over the last three games. He’s also made 80.8 percent of his free throws this season.
University of Evansville sophomore Samari Curtis was recognized as the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week in an announcement by the league on Tuesday.
Curtis continued to grow in his role with the Purple Aces and it has culminated in a team-high 14.8 points per game through the opening four Valley contests. In 25.6 minutes per game, Curtis has shot 46.3% overall, 40.7% from 3-point range and 83.3% at the line. He added 3.8 rebounds along with four assists, three steals and two blocks.
Following a 7-point game in the MVC opener, Curtis erupted for a career-high 29 points in the finale at SIU as he led the Aces to an 84-72 win. The victory ended a 19-game conference losing streak. Curtis was 9-of-13 from the field, drained six out of eight from outside and was a perfect 5-5 at the line. Over his career mark of 30 minutes played, Curtis added four rebounds. With Evansville coming back home to face preseason league favorite UNI, Curtis continued his solid play,