Tight game slips away from Evansville men's basketball in loss to Murray State
While the final score indeed was 74-58, Saturday's contest between the University of Evansville men's basketball team and Murray State was closer than it appeared in the box score.
The Purple Aces (5-24, 1-17 Missouri Valley Conference) showed the toughness and resilience it takes to compete in this league. And even after another lopsided defeat, they've proven they have not given up on this season when it would be easy to do so.
UE took the lead at six different points and seemed on the verge of an upset until the game slipped away late in the second half. Even then, it got back within single digits as it attempted to muster one more comeback.
Murray State ultimately protected its home court as UE remains in last place.
“I told them I understand where our record’s at, but we’ve given ourselves a shot,” coach David Ragland said during his postgame radio interview with Jevin Redman. “It doesn’t matter if they do go up — we were down 16 points and it took us about two minutes to cut it to eight. If we can play four-minute games just like that, it can easily be flipped.”
Here are a few takeaways heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Aces kept it close for about 30 minutes
UE made great strides since the first meeting on Jan. 1 when it allowed the Racers to build an early 23-1 lead. Although the Aces then outscored them the rest of the way, the hole was too big to overcome and UE lost 78-61.
Saturday was a different story as there were 12 lead changes, most of which came in the first half. UE trailed 27-24 at the break and then re-took the lead early in the second half.
Except, seemingly every time they began to build momentum, the Racers (15-13, 10-8 MVC) countered.
“We had some silly turnovers to end the half and if we took care of that, we would’ve gone into the half with the lead,” Ragland said.
Murray State eventually pulled away midway through the second half when its lead hit double digits for the first time. It reached a game-high 18 points during the final minute.
Ragland has stressed all season that the Aces need to put together a complete game if they want to have a chance at winning. For roughly 30 minutes, they appeared on track to do that in a tough road environment.
Murray State is now 25-2 at home over the last two seasons.
Margin for error remains thin for the Aces
Both teams were fairly even from the field. They each made only five 3-pointers.
Yet, foul trouble hurt the Aces in the second half and the Racers capitalized at the line shooting 19-for-21 (90%). UE was just 7-for-15 (47%), and that created a 12-point mismatch between the two from the stripe.
Marvin Coleman II led all scorers with 19 points while Yacine Toumi added 12 and Gabe Spinelli 11. Murray State had four players in double figures as Jamari Smith and Brian Moore Jr. each scored 18.
The Racers also held the rebounding advantage, 41-27.
The end of the regular season is near
Only two games remain before the MVC Tournament in St. Louis. The Aces will return to Ford Center on Wednesday against Illinois Chicago before closing the regular season on the road Sunday at Illinois State.
Both of the Aces’ first meetings with those teams were decided by single digits, so it’s still possible for them to avoid a last-place finish. UE is one game behind UIC, which also only has one win since the calendar flipped to 2023 — a 70-61 victory over the Aces.
UE finished last year at 6-24 overall, a program record for fewest wins and most losses. Saturday’s defeat was the team’s 24th loss this season.
“As a group, there’s a decision that needs to be made if they keep fighting,” Ragland said. “Which I believe they will. They’re still a group that’s upset to lose and we’ve lost plenty.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville Purple Aces basketball loses road game at Murray State
