Aces at Austin Peay

[Pocket Aces]

UE begins tough road stretch tonight
By STEVE FORD

Monday, December 18, 2006

Sometimes, it's best not to have much time to think about things.

That's certainly the hope of University of Evansville men's basketball coach Steve Merfeld entering tonight's game at 7 o'clock against Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn.

The Aces (7-3) are just two days removed from an 80-73 win over Lipscomb Saturday night at Roberts Stadium, which completed a rather successful home stand.

Evansville won six of seven games at home, including the last three in a row, but now faces six road games in the next eight games. And the road hasn't been kind to the Aces.

UE won just two games on the road last season and one

during the 2004-05 season. this year the Aces are 1-2 with losses at Lipscomb and Missouri and a 75-57 win at Tennessee-Martin.

"Maybe it's best we don't have much time to think about this one," said Merfeld. "Maybe it's best we just go and play since we've been playing good basketball. We'll have some time to prepare for Austin Peay (Sunday), but this team hasn't needed much time to adapt for another opponent. That's the luxury of having a veteran team. This team has also done a great job of making adjustments during games."

Merfeld said one such adjustment on defense Saturday against the Bisons helped provide the boost to lift the Aces late from the foul line, where UE went 35-for-43.

"Teams know what we do," said Merfeld. "We throw the ball inside. When you do that you have a good chance of getting fouled. It won't change (tonight)."

Senior Matt Webster has been the main recipient of those entry passes and the 6-foot-8, 250-pound power forward has responded with career scoring nights in two of his last three games, including 33 points against Lipscomb. His season scoring average is 18.8.

He's followed by fellow seniors Bradley Strickland (10.4) and Kyle Anslinger (10).

"It's just a matter of my teammates believing in me and getting me the ball," said Webster. "Now we have to be able to make the same kind of effort on the road. The last time we played at Austin Peay we didn't play well (a 74-71 loss last year)."

The Governors (3-5) have spent much of their early season on the road, playing six of eight away from Clarksville. Their last loss came Thursday at No. 19 Memphis, 88-63. Derek Wright led APSU with 18 points.

"It's a different Austin Peay team than we played last year," said Merfeld. "We don't know much about them, but we know they'll be glad to be home and hungry for a win."

Said Webster: "We know how to win on the road. We know what it takes. It's just a matter of playing our game. If we do that, we'll be fine."

[Bigcityp]

:aces:
Let's kick the "P" out of Austin Peay!!!!

[UE-BBALL#1]

This is a big and winnable game for the Aces. I would love to see us be 8-3 headed into our showdown Friday with Butler. The road has not been kind to us the past few years, but Peay is very beatable. If you told me at the beginning of the year we would have a chance to be 9-3 with a win over a top 20 team by the end of this week, I'd have taken it. :aces:

[Ace Dad]

12-11 Aces behind

[Ace Dad]

Audio is in and out. 14 mins to go.

[cpacmel]

AceDad and others, please keep us updated tonight.

:helpsmilie: :valley:

[Ace Dad]

This game is brought to you by "Old National Bank.":aces:

[Ace Dad]

9:50 to go

Aces trail 22-15 and Peay is shooting a FT

[Ace Dad]

Audio is terrible. Keeps going out.

[Ace Dad]

22-15 according to ESPN. 9:40 to go.

Austin Peay leads.

[Ace Dad]

22-17 now.

[Hein72]

The Aces are the hardest team to read. They better pull this one out.

[Ace Dad]

Aces trail 22-18

Peay is locking down Webster.

8 mins to go

[scottpt99UE]

Yeah it is, of course the commercials are fine.

Wish I would have decided to make the drive down.

[Ace Dad]

Evansville playing zone defense.

AP scores and leads by 6.

[Ace Dad]

I had this game on the calendar to attend and work got in the way. I need to get my priorities in order.

[Ace Dad]

ESPN says 24-18 with 7 mins to go.

[scottpt99UE]

Aces down 5 with 6 to go
Austin with one at FT

[Ace Dad]

Aces now in a 2-3.

Strickland rebounds.

Anslinger hits a three! 10 for him

6:25 to play

[Ace Dad]

27-21 AP leads.

[scottpt99UE]

27-25 5 to go
Anslinger has 13

[Ace Dad]

Webster going to the FT line after being fouled.

Granger, Ely, Anslinger in the backcourt.

27-22

[Ace Dad]

I must have a delay.

[Ace Dad]

30-25 AP

[Ace Dad]

Anslinger makes a good defensive play.

Aces with the ball.

3:43 to play.

30-25

[Ace Dad]

I have no problem being within five at this point.

[Ace Dad]

UE with the ball.

AP playing man to man.

Strickland loses ball to AP.

[scottpt99UE]

33-29 AP just under 2 to go

[Ace Dad]

AP scores a 3

AP leads by 8 pts.

33-25

[Ace Dad]

Strickland dunks!

[Ace Dad]

2 mins

Anslinger scores his 14th and 15th points

33-29

[Ace Dad]

1:30 to go

Strick rebounds

AP steals the ball and misses.

Webster fouls

AP shooting FTs

[Ace Dad]

Webster has only 1 foul, 7 points

AP hits one FT

55 secs to play

[Ace Dad]

Anslinger loses the ball.

AP leads by five.

33 secs to go.

Will hold for final shot.

[Ace Dad]

AP calls TO with 11 secs to go.

AP has led by as many as 8 points.

Anslinger has scored 15 points.

[Ace Dad]

Aces force a timeout with good defense.

[Ace Dad]

UE fouls a three point shooter! He scores and gets a FT.

[Ace Dad]

Aces trail by 9 points.

38-29

[Mick Taylor]

I've sometimes defended teams for their non-con losses, but this would be a bad loss for Evansville if it doesn't rally.

[Ace Dad]

Webster with two fouls.

Slow start to second half.

[Ace Dad]

18:30 to go in the second half.

Aces with ball.

Cooz scores!

38-31

[Ace Dad]

AP comes back to score.

9 pt lead again.

[Ace Dad]

Aces with ball.

Strick lays it in.

Trail by 7.

[shockball]

Go Cooz:aces:

[Ace Dad]

Jason hits a three!

Aces trail by 6 pts.

Aces with the ball.

[Ace Dad]

UE turnover.

AP turnover.

Webster goes strong to the basket, scores, and is now shooting a FT.

[Ace Dad]

Webster now has 10.

42-39

[Ace Dad]

Stalburg steals the ball.

Webster goes to the basket and is fouled again.

[Ace Dad]

16 mins to go.

Webster hits 1 FT.

Aces behind by two pts.

[Ace Dad]

Holsinger makes good defensive play to get the ball.

42-40

Official time out.

Aces ball.

[Rasputin]

:aces: :aces:

[Ace Dad]

Aces beat full court pressure.

Shy walks with the ball.

UE has 10 TOs.

[Ace Dad]

44-40

[shockball]

Come out and put it on 'em:aces:

[Ace Dad]

Aces lose the ball.

AP loses the ball.

Officials confer on the call.

New shotclock.

Kyle hits a 3!

Aces back in the game.

[Ace Dad]

AP scores and lead by 3.

Shy scores.

Aces behind by one.

Art fouls.

13:52 to play.

UE defending.

[Ace Dad]

AP hits a three:no:

[Ace Dad]

AP's Reed now has four fouls. Webster is a foul magnet.

Oh oh, now the foul is given to another AP player.

Home cooking!

[Ace Dad]

13:05

Art now has two fouls.

AP with the ball.

UE playing man to man.

AP inbounds.

Anslinger two fouls.

UE playing 1-3-1 trapping zone

Missed shot

UE with ball.

Webster loses ball.

AP misses dunk.

UE with the ball.

Matt Webster on the floor holding his ankle.

Play stoppage.

[Ace Dad]

Webster out. This is not good.

Strick comes in.

Aces with the ball

49-46 Ace's trail

AP in 2-3 zone.

Kyle misses a three and gets his rebound to score.

[Ace Dad]

AP comes back to score.

Aces down by three.

Jump ball.

Aces maintain possession.

11:05

AP 51 UE 48

[Ace Dad]

Jason hits a three!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are tied!!!!!

Evansville fans go crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ace Dad]

AP comes back and scores.

[Ace Dad]

9:58 to go

Anslinger, reverse layup 20 pts

We are tied!

[Ace Dad]

AP hits a three.

[Ace Dad]

Jason answers with a three!

[Ace Dad]

Holsinger hits a NBA three!

He was 7 feet behind the three point line!

Aces take the lead.

He has hit four 3s in the second half.

Aces lead 59-56!

[cpacmel]

Time left?

[Ace Dad]

Holsinger has 14 points in the game.

8:13 to play.

UE playing man to man.

AP called for offensive foul. Their best player now has 4 fouls.

Timeout

[Ace Dad]

61-56 Aces lead

[Ace Dad]

6 mins

UE with a 6 point lead.

[Saluki762]

Thank you for the updates Ace Dad.:aces: :valley:

[cpacmel]

Has Webster returned?

Come on Aces, bring it home. :aces:

[Ace Dad]

5:18


Aces ball.


Coach Merfeld calls a timeout.


Holsinger shot too early in the last possession and the coach is probably trying to get them to work the clock.

Webster back in the game.

[Ace Dad]

Webster in fouled again. He can give us an 8 point lead. C'mon MATT

Hits the first one.

Hits the second one.

5 mins to go.

[Ace Dad]

Matt has his third foul.

AP shooting FTs.

Hits one.

[Ace Dad]

Aces lose the ball.

AP scores.

Five point game.

AP with full court pressure.

4:12 to play

Aces up by 5.

Lots of contact.

Aces timeout.

[Ace Dad]

68-63

Full court pressure.

Aces with the ball.

Webster scores off the dribble!

3:50 to play.

Ely steals the ball and misses the layup due to pressure.

AP scores.

UE leads by 5 pts.

3:00 to play

AP hits a 3

Aces have a two point lead.

[Ace Dad]

Anslinger scores.

AP at the FT

2:12 to play

72-68 Aces lead.
Time out

[Ace Dad]

The game is getting physical and the refs are swallowing their whistle. Not good for us.

[Ace Dad]

Aces lead by two points.

AP steals the ball.

[cpacmel]

Come on ACES!!! FINISH THEM !!!

[Ace Dad]

Ely has the rebound.

Refs are letting them play.

Strickland scores and we lead by 4 pts.

[Ace Dad]

AP scores.

Less than a minute.

Aces by two.

Coach Merfeld calls a time out.

[Ace Dad]

I hope we hold the ball down to 5-7 seconds and drive the ball to the basket and play aggressively.

[Ace Dad]

Webster scores!

30 secs

Aces steal the ball

Strickland dunks

Timeout!

21 seconds to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shockball]

:aces: :aces: :aces:

[Ace Dad]

Jump ball.

78-72

13 secs

[Ace Dad]

AP hit a 3

Aces with the ball

10 secs to go

[outpost]

Do I hear a YES!!!!???

Edit - Bad timing there.....the effect was not what it seemed.

Come on Aces, hang on!!

[Ace Dad]

Full time out.

Aces with the ball.

[Ace Dad]

:aces: :aces: :aces: :aces: :aces: :aces: :aces: :aces: :aces: :aces: :aces:

[Ace Dad]

Aces have trouble inbounding.

Aces timeout.

[Ace Dad]

78-75

Inbounding full court.

Foul.

Kyle now shooting FTs.

[outpost]

What do you moderators mean? Unknown quantity?? Me??

Come on, I've got to have quantity!!

Back to the action.......

:aces: :valley:

[Ace Dad]

Hits the first one!

Hits both!

[Ace Dad]

Aces win!

[Ace Dad]

8-3 and playing #20 Butler University next game!

[outpost]

I hereby dub Austin Peay......unworthy for consideration of Valley membership.......not as if they were being considered........

[kcshocker]

:aces: :valley: :shockers: :clap: :bounceblue: :banana: :clap: Excellant, Nice Win

[ShockBand]

Will tommorow's headline be "Aces Hold Off Peay"?????

Nice win, Aces, lets keep this OOC train a-rollin...

[Ace Dad]

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Evansville overcame a nine-point halftime deficit and Matt Webster's twisted left ankle here Monday night as the Purple Aces won their fourth game in a row, 80-75 at Austin Peay.

Evansville is now 8-3 heading into Friday night's game at nationally ranked Butler.

Austin Peay got off to a nine-point lead at the end of the first half, 38-29, on Landon Shipley's four-point play in the final four seconds. But Evansville battled back in the second half behind the offense of guards Kyle Anslinger, who led all scorers with 26 points, and Jason Holsinger, who hit four three-pointers in the second half and finished with 14 points.

And then there was Webster, the 6-8, 240-pound senior forward and UE's leading scorer. Webster went out with a twisted left ankle with 12:04 remaining and Evansville trailing 49-46. Despite his six-minute absence, UE outscored the Governors 20-11 as Holsinger took over from the outside to put Evansville ahead for good, 66-60.

Austin Peay, now 3-6, cut UE's lead to two points on three occasions in the final three minutes, but Webster hit a layup on a feed from Anslinger with 29 seconds remaining to put the Aces up 76-72, and Bradley Strickland then sealed the deal with a steal and a dunk eight seconds later to make it 78-72.

Anslinger's 26 points were three shy of his career high. Webster added 18, Holsinger scored 14 and Strickland added 13 for Evansville, which shot a season-high 62 percent. Drake Reed led the Govs with 19.

Evansville is 8-1 in its last nine games, and now an even 2-2 in road games.









© Copyright 2003-2005 University of Evansville. All rights reserved

[tgcshock]

As it turned out, the Valley really needed your win tonight. Thanks for finishing strong.:valley:

[Bradleyfan]

Great win Aces! Nice win for the Valley.

Sorry Jay Bilas, ALL wins do help the Valley! :bash:

:aces: :valley:

[Dawg_tired]

Grats Aces.

[shocker3]

Aces! Aces! A very nice come back and win!!!:aces: :valley:

[UE-BBALL#1]

Big to get a win on the road. 8-3 and headed to Butler, BIG GAME ON FRIDAY NIGHT!!! :aces: :aces:

[Pocket Aces]

Aces refuse to trip up on the road
UE rallies past Austin Peay for its fourth consecutive win

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Different year. Different team. Different (road) results.

That would seem the case after the University of Evansville Aces climbed to .500 on the road for the season with an 80-75 win before 1,472 fans at Austin Peay on Monday night.

Evansville (8-3, 2-2 on the road) trailed 38-29 after a lackluster first half, but found its road legs in the locker room.

"In the great scheme of things we learned something," said UE coach Steve Merfeld. "We learned we can play far less than perfect and still win on the road. They took it to us early, but we played pretty well after halftime. It's nice to win."

The Aces came back with a 51-point second half even though leading scorer Matt Webster missed six minutes after rolling his ankle.

"Matt does that once a week," said senior guard Kyle Anslinger, "so we knew he'd be back. We just had to find a way to get it done while he was out."

The Aces out-scored Austin Peay 20-11 with Webster temporarily unavailable.

Anslinger, on the way to season highs of 26 points and eight rebounds, set the tone after Webster went to the bench to get re-taped with 12 minutes to play. The Reitz High graduate missed a 3-pointer short, but followed his shot and scored as he continued his path through traffic to the basket.

Then sophomore Jason Holsinger hit a 3-pointer to knot the score at 51-51 with 10:50 to play, the first tie since the second minute of the game.

Austin Peay (3-6) answered with consecutive baskets, but UE countered, first with a basket by Anslinger then on a 3-pointer by Holsinger.

When the Governors finally missed, Holsinger pulled up from 25 feet and put the Aces ahead to stay, 59-56, with 8:16 to play. It was his fourth straight 3-pointer, a welcome relief for last year's second-leading scorer.

"I wasn't aggressive on the first couple shots I took," said Holsinger, who finished with 14 points. "But when I made a pullup (jumper) in the first half, I thought, 'that's it'.

"In the second half I just stayed aggressive when the opportunities presented themselves, and I made shots. I felt good to get it going again, but even better to do it in a win."

Even after Webster returned and made his presence felt with six points down the stretch, there with little breathing room for the Aces.

The Governors cut their deficit to two points three times in the final three minutes. The last came with 1:01 to play when Drake Reed hit a jumper for a team-best 19 points.

But Webster, who finished with 18 points, pushed the lead to four off a post feed from Anslinger before Bradley Strickland put the game away, 78-72, with a steal and dunk with 21 seconds to play. "You can get those at the end of the game when they get comfortable passing the ball," Strickland said after a 13-point, eight-rebound night. "All I was thinking was don't miss this dunk. The seniors on this team had never won here. We felt like we let one get away here last year (in a 74-71 loss), but we weren't going to this time. Everybody came through."

Webster didn't think it was ever in doubt. "This is the way we've played all season," he said. "This team doesn't quit playing whether it's ahead or behind. We always think we're going to win. It's made a difference."

The Aces travel to Indianapolis on Friday to face No. 16-ranked Butler.

[XSaluki]

Nice win Aces:aces:! Everyone needed that.