The Valparaiso University men's basketball team outscored visiting Evansville by 12 over the final 13 minutes of Saturday's game, but a deficit that peaked at 22 was too large to overcome in a 78-68 setback to the Purple Aces at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
 
How It Happened

• Evansville's sharp-shooting had the Purple Aces in the driver's seat from just about the outset. The Beacons got to within one at 17-16 with 12:45 left in the first half, but UE scored the next six to balloon the lead to seven at 23-16 midway through the period.  
• A triple by Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West) with 9:29 on the clock cut the deficit to two, but seven straight by the Aces made it 30-21 with 7:44 to play in the half. Evansville went on its biggest run of the half at 9-0 to enlarge the margin to 16 when Baia Berridge hit a 3 at the 3:44 mark.
• Valpo trailed by 19 going into halftime with Evansville shooting at a torrid 66.7 percent clip. Isaiah Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz. / Davidson Academy [GCU]) hit a pair of first-half 3s and had seven points through the game's first 20 minutes.
• The two teams played even early in the second half, and Tanner Cuff hit a 3 with 13 minutes to play to give Evansville its largest lead at 62-40. Valpo cut the deficit with a 9-0 run that culminated with a Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. Victory Christian Academy) 3 at the 10:08 mark, but the lead was built back up to 20 before another Beacon burst of eight straight cut it to 12.
• Valpo couldn't get to within single figures in the second half despite outscoring the Aces 42-34 after halftime.

Inside the Game

• On the defensive end, Valpo forced 21 Evansville turnovers, the most forced by the Beacons since Dec. 9, 2020 (24 by SIUE). Valpo had a 14-game winning streak when forcing 21 or more turnovers in regulation that dated back to 2005 prior to Saturday. This tied with Jan. 31, 2018 vs. Indiana State for the most turnovers Valpo has forced in a league game since joining the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Valpo won the turnover battle 21-12. The team's 13 steals marked the squad's most since Nov. 6, 2023 vs. Trinity Christian (15), most against a Division-1 opponent since Dec. 9, 2020 vs. SIUE (16) and most in league play since Jan. 31, 2018 vs. Indiana State (13).
• Schmidt accounted for five steals, the first five-steal game by a Beacon since Nick Edwards on Dec. 29, 2022 at Drake.
• Sophomore Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest) had 13 points, his 12^th straight game with at least 12. Schwieger was a rebound shy of a double-double. He shared team-high scoring honors with Schmidt and freshman All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year).
• Evansville's Connor Turnbull rejected six shots, becoming the first player with half a dozen blocks against Valpo since Rhode Island's Hassan Martin on Nov. 17, 2015. The Purple Aces had nine as a team, the most against Valpo since Kentucky's nine on Dec. 7, 2016.
• Tanner Cuff (22) and Gabriel Pozzato (21) carried the bulk of the load for the Aces, who shot 58 percent for the game as a team.
• After entering the game among the national leaders in free-throw shooting, Valpo went just six of 13 (46.2 percent) at the line, the team's worst free-throw percentage since 37.5 on Dec. 7, 2021 vs. East-West.

Postgame Press Conference
Click here for postgame press conference.
 
Up Next
Valpo (10-11, 3-7 MVC) will continue a sequence of back-to-back home games as Southern Illinois comes to town for a 7 p.m. tip on Tuesday. If you're already counting down the days until summer arrives, we've got you covered as Tuesday will be our Beach Game Beach Game with a chance to win free flights, Hawaiian leis and koozies.