The Missouri Valley Conference continues conference play on Wednesday with a matchup between the Evansville Purple Aces (10-3, 1-1 MVC) and the Indiana State Sycamores (11-2, 2-0 MVC). Evansville's last outing was a tough matchup against Cincinnati, losing on the road 76-58 as 18.5-point underdogs. Indiana State also played a big school in their most recent game, going down in Michigan State 87-75 as 8.5-point underdogs. Indiana State won both matchups against Evansville last season. Indiana State is currently listed as 14-point favorites. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 EST from the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Indiana.
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The Evansville Purple Aces are used to the underdog role, and welcome it. They won six games outright this season when they were listed as the underdog, with the biggest upset as 8.5-point dogs against Chattanooga. They only have three losses on the season, and they were not bad losses as they were double-digit underdogs in all three games. Evansville has a conference win over Northern Iowa at home, and lost to Missouri State on the road. In their last game, they were led by big man Yacine Toumi with 17 points and nine rebounds in the loss to Cincy.
Evansville is led in scoring by 6'8 forward Ben Humrichous with 16.3 PPG to go with 5.6 RPG. He is also the top shooter on the team with 30 made threes on 48.4% shooting from deep. Humrichous has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, with a high of 28 against Chattanooga. Yacine Toumi is another forward who can score, the 6'10 center adds 10.7 PPG and a team high 6.4 RPG. Toumi has scored in double figures in his last five games. Chuck Bailey III is a strong wing on the perimeter, the 6'4 freshman adds 10.7 PPG. Kenny Strawbridge Jr. led the team in scoring last season, and now is averaging 10.1 PPG as a 6'6 senior wing.
Evansville is currently ranked 161st overall according to KenPom. They are better on defense where they rank 132nd in efficiency, while their offense ranks 213th in efficiency. The Purple Aces play fast on offense, their tempo is ranked 82nd out of 362 Division I teams.