Ryan, Evansville top Illinois State 59-54
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Colt Ryan scored 19 points and Evansville used a couple of big second-half runs to overtake Illinois State and post a 59-54 victory on Saturday night.
Ryan, the Missouri Valley Conference's freshman of the year last season, made just 6 of 15 shots, but three of them were 3-pointers for the Purple Aces (9-8, 3-4). It was Evansville coach Martin Simmons' first win over Illinois State (8-10, 0-7) in his four seasons there. The Redbirds, who had won the last eight meetings against the Purple Aces, dropped their seventh straight game.
Illinois State stretched its 28-25 halftime lead to 32-25 before Evansville started the first of two dominant stretches. The Purple Aces used a 15-3 run to take a 40-35 lead. After falling behind 46-42, they outscored the Redbirds 12-1 to take a 54-47 lead with 1:02 remaining and held on the rest of the way.
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Zeke Upshaw led Illinois State with nine points. John Wilkins and Jon Ekey had eight each.
Kenneth Harris had 11 points for Evansville.