Tuesday, January 8, 2019, 7:00 p.m.
Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
Of the three MVC schools with new coaches for 2018-19, no other team had to re-tool as much as the Evansville Purple Aces. New head coach Walter McCarty attracted a top recruit and some intriguing transfers who will be eligible next year, but the Aces began the season with seven underclassmen and no players having more than a year of D1 experience. Even so, Evansville has compiled a 7-1 record at home this season, and many of their road losses against solid programs have been unexpectedly competitive.
McCarty has stressed defense and fundamentals with his young players; his assistant coaches include former Iowa and Butler head coach Todd Lickliter and former Butler player and assistant Matthew Graves. The emphasis on D has paid off thus far, with KenPom ranking Evansville’s adjusted defensive efficiency at 86th in D1, and second in the MVC behind the Ramblers. Evansville beat Ball State at home—something the Ramblers couldn’t do. Although the Aces play very good defense, they enjoy playing at a much faster tempo than most other MVC teams.
Evansville starts three guards, top scorer K.J. Riley (a 6’5” junior), second leading scorer Shea Feehan (a 6’0” guard from Eureka College), and 6’5” senior Marty Hill. Riley is averaging 14.1 points per game and his versatility presents matchup problems for a lot of opponents. Riley is very aggressive at the hoop and has scored 42% of his points from the foul line. Feehan may be familiar to more rabid Loyola fans as the point guard at D-III Eureka, a team Loyola faced three times in the non-con season from 2015-2017. Feehan scored 8, 10, and 17 points against Loyola in those three games; he’s averaging 11.9 at Evansville and leads the team in made threes. Hill is one of the few remaining returning players from last season when he had a season-ending injury after nine games. Hill is averaging 10.5 points per game this year, and leads the Aces with a 44% shooting percentage from distance.
The starting frontcourt is manned by 6’7” redshirt sophomore forward John Hall and 6’8” sophomore forward Evan Khulman. Hall averages 9.5 points per game and leads the squad in rebounds with 8.3 per game. The tallest starter, Kuhlman, takes more than half his shots from behind the three-point arc. Kuhlman averages 6.7 points and 2.3 rebounds.
The three players that see significant time off the bench are 6’4” sophomore guard Noah Freiderking, 5’10” freshman guard Shamar Givance, and 6’9” senior forward Dainius Chatkevicius. They average between 5.3 and 7.0 points per game, playing minutes in the high teens.
Evansville is tough at home. The Aces are 7-1 at the Ford Center, with their only loss in an ugly defensive dogfight against Jacksonville State. Evansville likes to get to the line as a big part of their scoring, averaging nearly 23 trips to the line per game and hitting on 75% of their freebies. For comparison, the Ramblers average only 18.6 trips to the line and hit on 63%.
The best bet for the Ramblers is to establish an inside-outside game early. Drive at the hoop to reach the line and get the frontcourt into foul trouble. Opponents shooting better than 47% are 3-1 against the Aces, and Evansville is 2-4 when shooting under 40% from the field. When Evansville makes fewer than 18 trips to the free throw line, they’re 0-3.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... df?id=8280Evansville game notes: https://gopurpleaces.com/documents/2019 ... df?id=6300TV/Streaming video: CBS Sports Net
https://www.cbssportsnetwork.com/Live stats: https://gopurpleaces.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summaryVegas odds: Loyola by 3.5
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