Dec. 20, 2011
Final Stats | Notes
Evansville 77, Miami 75 
OXFORD, Ohio--After an exciting back and forth second half at Millett Hall Tuesday night, the Miami University men's basketball (3-6) team fell to Evansville (5-5) by a score of 77-75. Freshman guard Brian Sullivan scored a career-high 18 points and four RedHawks scored in double figures, but it was not enough to overcome the Purple Aces' 76-percent field goal percentage in the second half.
Senior forward Julian Mavunga and Sullivan led all scorers with 18 points apiece, while Mavunga also led all players with 12 rebounds. Harris and sophomore guard Josh Sewell reached double figures in scoring as well, registering 10 and 14 points, respectively. Denver Holmes led Evansville in scoring with 15 points, while Ned Cox led the team in rebounding, grabbing five boards.
After Evansville jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, Miami's offense took over and started a 12-2 scoring run to take a 12-6 lead with 14:52 left in the half. Sophomore forward Jon Harris added five of those points, including Miami's first points of the night. Brian Sullivan also added five points.
Evansville fought back and cut the Miami lead to two on a 3-pointer by Kenny Harris at the 9:27 mark of the first half, but a three-point play by freshman guard Will Sullivan extended the RedHawk lead to five, making the score 20-15.
The Will Sullivan play was the beginning of an 8-3 scoring run by Miami that further extended its lead to 25-18 with 6:33 left in the half. Back-to-back layups by the Purple Aces' Ryan Sawvell, however, brought Evansville back within three, 25-22. The RedHawks responded with yet another little scoring run, this time a 7-2 flurry to bring the score to 32-24 with 3:11 remaining in the half.
A pair of Evansville free throws and a 3-pointer by Brian Sullivan were the remaining points of the first half, and Miami went into the locker room with a 35-26 lead. Brian Sullivan led all scorers in the first half with 13 points, one off of his career high. Mavunga led all players with six rebounds. For Evansville, Sawvell led all Purple Aces with nine points, while Rokas Cesnulevisius led the team with three rebounds.
Miami shot extremely well in the first half, making nearly 60 percent of its shots, including five of 11 from long range. Brian Sullivan highlighted the RedHawk shooting effort, making five of his six shots and all three of his 3-pointers.
Both teams came out firing in the second half, with Miami making its first three field goals and Evansville making its first five. The RedHawks and Purple Aces were equally perfect from the charity stripe, with both squads making all eight of their combined attempts. The result was a tied game, 44-44, with 14:58 left in the game. In total, the Evansville scoring run reached 18-9 to open up the second half.
At the 13:30 mark of the second half, Evansville took its first lead since the opening minutes of the game on a 3-pointer by Jordan Nelson to make the score 47-46. Evansville remained perfect on all shot attempts until the 12:34 mark of the half, and by that time it had built a 52-46 lead over the RedHawks.
Not to be outdone, Miami rattled off eight straight points, highlighted by a clutch 3-pointer from Brian Sullivan and a three-point play by Mavunga to regain the lead, 54-52, with 9:45 left in the game. Sullivan's trey gave him 16 points on the night, which eclipsed his previous career-high of 14.
Evansville stayed hot, however, and built its lead up to 65-59 with 5:21 left in the game. Brian Sullivan answered right back with a shot of his own to cut the deficit to four, 65-61. After getting fouled on a shot down low and making the first of his two free throws, Mavunga reached 10 points for the game and, with his 10 rebounds, recorded his sixth double-double in seven games. He went on to make the second freebie to make the score 67-63 in favor of Evansville.
With two minutes remaining in the game, Mavunga drilled a 3-pointer to tie it up at 69-69. On its next possession, Evansville's Colt Ryan made both of his free throw attempts to give the Purple Aces their lead back, 71-69. Ryan knocked down a jumper on Evansville's next possession, and Mavunga answered right back with a shot of his own to bring the RedHawks within two, 73-71, with 35 seconds remaining.
Sophomore guard Quinten Rollins laid one in to make the score 75-73 with 20 seconds remaining in the game. On the ensuing inbounds pass, the RedHawks fouled Evansville's Ken Harris, who proceeded to make both of his free throw attempts to put the Purple Aces back on top by four, 77-73. Mavunga made a layup with two seconds left on the clock to make the score 77-75 and make it a one-possession game, but Evansville's inbounds pass sailed to the other end of the court where the final seconds ticked off the clock and gave the Purple Aces a victory.
The RedHawks travel to Columbus on Thursday to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at 8:30 p.m. at Nationwide Arena. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
