How Evansville men's basketball survived a scare in its final dress rehearsal

EVANSVILLE — For the first time under new coach David Ragland, the Evansville Purple Aces looked destined for something the fanbase has decried: A shot-clock violation.

Huntington University pressured them during a possession late in the first half. Preston Phillips desperately heaved a late shot attempt from the elbow. It was a move Wednesday night's announced Ford Center crowd of 3,217 saw plenty last season. And while it went in, they likely didn't come away from the final dress rehearsal with great expectations for another campaign.

UE defeated Huntington 74-64 in its second and final exhibition on an underwhelming evening, albeit against a quality NAIA opponent. Results will count in the standings starting Monday against Miami (Ohio).

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“I don’t know if it was much of a scare game, but I think we’ve got to approach every game with the same mentality,” UE guard Marvin Coleman II said. “Whoever’s against us, we still prepare the same, we still have the same keys.”

Still, UE understands it has many areas to improve upon.

“Basketball is basketball. You click on the TV and Division II teams are beating Division I teams,” Ragland said. “The separation in basketball, period, is not that much. The way the transfer portal is, the way recruiting is, the way people are building the programs and the rosters, it’s gonna be like that more and more, especially early in the season.

The Foresters made the Aces sweat in the second half

Although UE led for most of the contest, the teams went back and forth at the start and Huntington later cut UE’s advantage to just five points early in the second half. The Foresters kept it close with hot shooting out of the break.

“They were good, they’re a good team,” Ragland said. “They made their run because that’s what good teams do and we just had to respond the right way.”

UE ultimately led for the entire second half and remains undefeated to open a new era. Huntington cooled off, finishing 40% overall from the field while attempting just 11 free throws. That's an improvement by UE after Oakland City shot 30 from the line on Saturday.

“One of our focuses was defending without fouling,” Ragland said. “I thought it was a decently physical game, but it was fair, I thought it was both ways. That’s gotta be our mindset moving forward.”

The Aces, however, had another poor showing from the free-throw line as both teams finished 4-for-11. Ragland insisted with a laugh his team was working on them every day in practice. But missed free throws can easily throw away a close game.

Had Huntington also shot better from the perimeter, the outcome may have been tougher to swallow for the Aces. The Foresters shot just 29.4% from deep, a dismal 10 of 34 despite UE giving them many open looks that didn’t fall.

Against stronger opponents, UE likely won’t be as fortunate.

“Every scouting report is gonna be a little different. Huntington makes you defend and respect everybody that’s on the court,” Ragland said. “Miami (Ohio) is a good team that can shoot it similar to Huntington. We’ll have to get the shooters just like tonight.”

Ragland: “Everything we do, we do it by committee”

Kenny Strawbridge Jr. went 4-for-6 from behind the arc to finish with a game-high 18 points. It was a much better showing after he failed to hit a 3-pointer in the first exhibition. That was an area he felt he needed to improve upon.

As a team, the Aces shot 43.5% from three and 50% overall. Antoine Smith Jr. also hit 2 of 3 from deep to finish with 15 points off the bench.

“One thing we always talk about is being ready to shoot,” Coleman said. “There’s a lot of 3-point shooting, so being able to open the floor and stretch and stretch the floor out is something we take pride in.”

Ragland added: “Everything we do, we do it by committee. We have a group of guys that can score it, can shoot it. They’re taking good shots, good open shots. It’s a law of averages, sometimes you make them, sometimes you won’t.”

He was pleased with UE’s 16 assists on 30 field goals. The Aces had several possessions with quick passing that led to open looks for shooters. He’s preached the importance of playing at a good pace and sharing the ball, which is what the Aces did for the most part.

“That’s what we do every day. We talk about sharing the ball, keeping the ball hot, just making the right play,” Ragland said. “When you get multiple ball reversals, your percentage of getting a make goes up even higher.”

UE men's basketball: Takeaways from the Purple Aces' exhibition against Oakland City

Offensive rebounds may still be a new sight for Ford Center spectators, but the Aces grabbed 12 after ranking last nationally on the offensive boards last year. They held the advantage in each of the exhibitions — a positive sign.

“Coach is big on making hits to grab rebounds,” UE forward Yacine Toumi said. “Before the game, he told me and the other go-guys, the guys who usually go to rebound, just be big on rebounds and get every rebound.”

The Aces also cut down on their turnovers, though many of the 12 giveaways were preventable. Ragland said “10-to-12” turnovers are the maximum he wants to see.

“There’s no better teacher in life than experience and that stuff we can clean up,” Ragland said. “We’ll continue to work toward that. … We’ll make mistakes and turn the ball over. We don’t expect them to be flawless or perfect; we expect them to play hard and play for each other.”

Rotations are becoming clearer through two contests

The Aces used nine players in the first half, a strong indication of who will be in the regular rotation. The same five who started against Oakland City again received the nod Wednesday: Coleman, Toumi, Strawbridge, Gage Bobe and Sekou Kalle.

The nine players — starters, plus Smith, Phillips, Blaise Beauchamp and Gabe Spinelli — each played more than 15 minutes. Freshmen Cameron Gehlhausen and Logan McIntire, the others who saw action, played less than 90 seconds combined.

“There’s a lot of experience with the (starting) group,” Ragland said. “I told Blaise and Preston and Antoine all that just because you’re not starting doesn’t mean you can’t play starter minutes. They’re just as important to what we do.

“You can only start five of them. I think you could argue who all should be starting, I’ll make an argument for all eight of those guys easily.”

With that reliance on several bench players, UE received strong production from its substitutes again. The Aces scored 32 bench points against Huntington after dropping 45 on Oakland City.

“You have to stay ready, you never know when your number is going to be called,” Ragland said. “When it is, we’re gonna trust that what we do every single day — our habits, how we go about our business — that whoever is called to do it is gonna go and do it.”

They have a few days of practice ahead of them to shore up their early deficiencies before the ball goes up Monday night in Oxford, Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville men's basketball: Takeaways from exhibition with Huntington