Saturday, February 6, 2021 1:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.


After ending last season on a 19-game losing streak, the Purple Aces were not surprisingly picked to finish last in the 2020-21 MVC preseason poll. But after losing their first three to start the season, Evansville has rallied to win eight of their last 13 games-- including 6 of 10 league games-- to rank in third place in the conference more than halfway through the season. It's a pretty remarkable accomplishment for a coach familiar to most longtime Rambler fans-- who just a little over two years ago had been out of Division I coaching for six years.

Coach Todd Lickliter was head coach at Loyola's top Horizon League conference rival Butler from 2001-07, during which time he was 9-4 against the Ramblers with five of those games going to overtime. He was hired as an assistant at Evansville in 2018 as Walter McCarthy took over the reins at UE. In January he was named as new head coach after McCarty was dismissed for misconduct.

Lickliter has done a fantastic job turning the pieces left from the old regime into a competent crew, even if some players are playing out of position. He's done it through controlling tempo, emphasizing defense, and adjusting his offense to best take advantage of the skills of the players he's got.

The Aces start two forwards and three guards. Six-seven grad transfer Jax Levitch and 6'8" senior Evan Kuhlman man the frontcourt. Levitch played at IPFW and UNC Ashville before earning a starting spot this season in the Evansville frontcourt. Levitch averages only 5.6 points per game, but leads the team in rebounds and hits 51.9% of his rare three pointers. He's more of a facilitator on offense, but does a lot of inside work on defense. Kuhlman used to be a guard/forward who shot mostly from distance, but he's now required to bump, post-up and drive at the hoop for a team short on experienced inside players. Kuhlman averages 8.6 points, leads the team in blocks, and can still step out to the perimeter for a three (he shoots 34.7% behind the arc).

The UE starting backcourt is 5'10" junior point guard Shamar Givance, 6'3" junior guard Jawaun Newton, and 6'4" senior sharp-shooter Noah Frederking. Newton leads the team with 12.8 points per game, and also picks up 4.1 rebounds per game. Frederking shoots the three at nearly 40%, and averages 11.1 points per game.

Despite being the shortest player on the team, Givance makes up for it with speed and energy. He averages 12.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. A lot like Valpo's Daniel Sackey-- another diminuitive Canadian point guard-- he has the ability to drive to the basket fearlessly and finish. The Aces' offense likes to create opportunities for Givance and Newton to drive to the hoop and dish out to distance shooters if needed.

Top bench players include 6'4" sophomore guard Samari Curtis (a Nebraska transfer who averages 10.5 ppg), 6'9" junior forward Iyen Enaruna, and 6'9" freshman forward Trey Hall. That's pretty much it for the bench-- 6'0" sophomore guard Gage Bobe and 6'5" freshman guard Alex Mathews might get double-digit minutes in a blow out game. Four of the UE starters (all except Kuhlman) average over 31 minutes per game.

According to KenPom.com, Evansville has the slowest pace of any team in Division I-- 356th out of 356. A good part of UE's offense is to pass and dribble for 20-25 seconds looking to get a mismatch on a defensive switch, then driving to the hoop and either taking the layup or kicking out for a three. They often go 25 seconds or more in the clock before taking a shot. Evansville leads the MVC in three point attempts and made threes by quite a margin-- the Aces have taken 41 more three point attempts than the next highest team, and 71 more attempts than Loyola (despite Loyola having played two more games).

The Ramblers are 7-7 against Evansville since joining the MVC, but the two teams have a history that goes back long before the Aces stepped up to the Division I level in 1977. Evansville was a founding member of the old Midwestern City Conference with Loyola, Butler, Oklahoma City, Oral Roberts, and Xavier in 1979 (Detroit joined the following year). Loyola was scheduled to play Evansville twice during the 1977-78 season, when the Evansville team plane crashed killing all on board. Overall, Loyola is 23-27 against the Aces.


Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _6_21_.pdf

Evansville game notes: https://gopurpleaces.com/documents/2021 ... df?id=9299

TV/Streaming video: NBC Sports Chicago, ESPN+ https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=2f ... c7fac29026

Internet audio feed: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=54&type=Live

Live stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=325928

Vegas odds: Loyola by 20

Lots of interesting information here, thanks JCT. I think a sweep of this series will result in an AP ranking for the ramblers.

I enjoy and appreciate when you add in basketball history to your previews. I know a lot of the fellow ramblermaniacs are as old as sister jean but some of us have only been fans for a few years and have never heard this information before. I hope we sweep Evansville and setup the most exciting conference matchup that I’ve ever witnessed with Drake.

Gotta admit, I'm a little worried about this series. The weekend has TRAP GAME written all over it. All you hear is Loyola vs Drake next weekend. If I were an Evansville fan, I'd be licking my chops. Porter has a tough job here to keep our guys focused on these games. The Aces are dangerous enough shooting the three that we can't afford to look past them.

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Phyfe had 17 and 19 against this frontcourt. This team relies on Krutwig less than last year's team but that shouldn't be the case in these games. Hope Krutwig sets a career high this weekend.

Krutwig should be able to absolutely eat this team alive.

I have similar nerves about the Aces catching fire from 3. We will need to defend the arc all weekend.

Agree this is a massive trap game. I'd say the same for Drakes series against ISU + their midweek matchup with UNI. Their offense reminds me of MSU two seasons ago. Just dribble then chuck up a three. Gotta be smart and defend hard!

Opening Vegas line is Ramblers favored by 20.

Will Dansen take the points and go with the Purple Aces? Inquiring minds want to know.

I think if Porter needs to fire the guys up for this weekend "ASPIRE TO DAYTON-LEVEL RELEVANCE!!" should do the trick.

Sheesh. I’ve taken the Loyola line for almost every single game, but that is quite the spread. I’ll need to check my model, which is admittedly a subjective test of my gut 20 minutes before tip off.

I also want to know about Marquise