Saturday, January 11, 2020 3:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.
All through the off season, Evansville fans were confidently touting the huge leap their team was set to make this year under second year head coach Walter McCarty. The Aces finished last in the league last season, but showed glimmers of promise like when they defeated the two teams that shared the conference regular season title. The predictions of something special looked dead-on as the Purple Aces shocked the college basketball world on Nov. 12 by knocking off # 1 Kentucky, 67-64, at Rupp Arena.
Since the Kentucky win, it's been a steep downhill ride for the Purple Aces and their fans. The Aces struggled mightily between the Kentucky win and the Christmas break, going 6-4 against mediocre competition. But just before the kick off of conference play, the university put Coach McCarty on leave while investigating allegations of inappropriate behavior. And three games later, leading scorer DeAndre Williams was sidelined with a nagging back injury and considered day-to-day. Former Loyola assistant Bennie Seltzer has taken over in McCarty's place on the sidelines. UE has lost their first three conference games of the season, and reside alone in last place.
The Aces are likely to start four guards and a forward if Williams is unavailable. Six-five senior K.J. Riley, 6'4" junior Artur Labinowicz, 6'8" junior Sam Cutliffe, and 5'10" sophomore Shamar Giviance are the likely starters at guard, and 6'7" junior John Hall starts in the front court. Riley is second on the team in scoring a 12.4 ppg, and Labinowicz (11.2 ppg) and Cunliffe (10.9) also average in double figures.
DeAndre Williams, a 6'9" sophomore forward, averages 16.9 ppg and leads the team by far with 7.7 rebounds. He is the only Evansville player who shoots better than 46.5% from the field, the only Evansville player with 100+ rebounds, and the only Evansville player with more than 10 blocks. He is on a pathway (at least in muddled, very close conference standings) to be a top contender for Conference Player of the Year, and a lock as a sophomore on an underperforming team to make the Conference first team. So it's a huge deal if Williams is healthy and available to play against Loyola-- probably good for a 10-point or greater swing in the final score.
The Ramblers are coming off a hard-fought close loss against Drake in Des Moines. Drake's sophomore center Liam Robbins had a career day (20 points, 9 rebounds, 7 blocks), and sliced up the Rambler drives to the basket like an NBA prospect. Preseason Conference Player of the Year Cameron Krutwig was held in check mostly with man on man defense. It felt like Loyola was being clobbered, but the Ramblers had two good chances to tie the game in the closing seconds.
Loyola has now lost four games (out of their six total losses) by four points or fewer. Since point guard Keith Clemons joined to team after an early season injury, Loyola is 6-2 with the only two losses by three points.
The Ramblers need to take care of business in the next two games, which come against former Loyola assistants who just started coaching in the MVC, and bring banged-up or undermanned squads to Gentile Arena. Win these games decisively, avoid injury, and get into a comfortable offensive rotation now, because the schedule turns uphill after these two games.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _11_20.pdfEvansville game notes: https://gopurpleaces.com/documents/2020 ... df?id=7916TV/Streaming video: ESPN+
https://www.espn.com/watch?id=ea1a740a- ... yola-US-ENLive audio feed: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=18&type=LiveLive stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=280006Vegas odds: Loyola by 12
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
