Standouts and concerns: Takeaways from Evansville basketball's win over Wabash

EVANSVILLE — The final minutes showed what the University of Evansville men’s basketball team could be: Strong defense, smart offense and overpowering athletically. The rest of the game, though, was somewhat underwhelming.

The Purple Aces beat Wabash College 76-66 in its final rehearsal before the games count. UE's struggles against the Little Giants, a Division III power coming off a Final Four appearance, could have been because of a lack of in-game chemistry or their opponents returning most of their core. The fact remains that a Division I program, coming off a bad season or not, shouldn’t be taken to the final media timeout like that.

There were shades of last season’s exhibition against Huntington University: A win, sure, but plenty to be desired. The strong finish alleviated some concerns, while other concerns remained until the opening tip.

“It’s a lot of problem solving in the moment, in real time,” coach David Ragland said. “Once you get enough of a sample size of 30 minutes, 34 minutes, 36 minutes, now the last four you can implement everything that we learned.”

There’s just over a week to go before the Aces start the regular season against Miami (Ohio) at Ford Center. UE beat the Redhawks at Millett Hall last season but will be hard-pressed to find the same result with a similar performance to Saturday’s opening 36 minutes.

The final four, though, changed the overall aura of the game. The Aces ended on an 8-0 run and held Wabash scoreless for the final 4:10.

“We showed we could do it,” Ragland said. “Now we have to make it consistent. That way, we make it habits and hopefully second nature, but we did it. We have the ability to do it.”

Here are some takeaways:

Evansville basketball Starters and rotation

Here’s UE's starting five:

Antonio Thomas, Cam Haffner, Kenny Strawbridge Jr., Ben Humrichous, Yacine Toumi

The Aces ran a nine-man rotation with Chuck Bailey III, Tanner Cuff, Gage Bobe and Sekou Kalle coming off the bench. The rotations could grow as Josh Hughes and Gui Tesch get healthy.

UE men's basketball: Ben Humrichous made the jump from NAIA stardom to the Purple Aces. Why?

Ragland wouldn’t confirm whether that would be the group that starts against Miami but noted the strengths of having a deeper bench. The Aces largely ran a seven-man rotation last season with injuries and redshirts but should have more depth this season.

“We’re trying to learn our team as well. In the first half, we mixed up some groups and allowed some guys to play and problem solve in the moment,” Ragland said. “We’re trying to see what groups work best with each other.”

3-point defense concerns

Wabash shot 48% from the 3-point line on 13-27 efficiency. The Giants live on the perimeter and made their Final Four run with the 3-ball, but that still raises concerns about UE’s deep defense. Wabash had a five percent drop in the second half but still connected on too many long shots.

There were some instances of just good shotmaking — hitting one with a hand in their face or good ball movement. Thirteen 3-pointers, though, are too many. There were moments when the Acs got mixed up and didn’t switch onto shooters. Fixing that is crucial for Miami and beyond.

“We just gotta clean up contesting 3-point shots,” Strawbridge said. “Close out hard, especially when conference starts. … We just gotta learn right now to contest, get help side.”

Evansville basketball standout performers

Scoring wasn’t a problem for UE and shouldn’t be going forward, particularly if Strawbridge and Toumi have similar averages as last season. Offensively, Bailey and Cuff were the top performers.

“In high school, I could get by a lot by being skillful and my abilities,” Bailey said. “College, you’ve gotta play hard. I realized today that I can really play hard and play at this level.”

Bailey, a four-star freshman, finished with a team-high 16 points on 8-11 shooting while Cuff finished with 14 on 5-9. Those two made their case to move into the starting lineup, though their bench production could be valuable down the line if they don’t.

“It was nice, fun to get back out on the floor,” Cuff said. “It was great.”

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville basketball: Takeaways from the exhibition win over Wabash College