EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indiana State men's basketball completed the season sweep against Evansville Wednesday night by overcoming a double-digit deficit to defeat the Purple Aces 83-65 at the Ford Center.
 
Cooper Neese joined Evansville's (4-20, 0-13 MVC) Yacine Toumi to pace all scorers in the game with 19 points while Courvoisier McCauley posted an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double for Indiana State (15-9, 8-5 MVC). Julian Larry also scored in double figures while dishing out a career-high seven assists.
 
Larry opened the scoring in the game, but the Aces spouted off a 12-0 run to force an Indiana State timeout with a 10-point lead less than four minutes in. The Sycamores came out of that timeout with back-to-back threes that sparked a 14-0 run for a 16-12 lead at 13:44. Indiana State shot 5-of-5 from the field including 3-of-3 beyond the arc in that span while forcing three Evansville turnovers.
 
Evansville reeled it in to 23-21 at 8:55, but shortly after that Neese took a charge and then drove all the way in through contact on the other end to make it 25-21. Xavier Bledson hit back-to-back threes to push Indiana State's lead to double figures at 31-21 with 6:09 to go in the opening frame.
 
The Sycamores led 37-23 with 3:44 left in the first half, but Evansville closed out the half on a 13-0 run to make it 37-36 at the break.
 
After being tied up at 39-all early in the second half, Indiana State went on a 10-0 run to go up 52-41 and force an Evansville timeout at 15:34. Zach Hobbs checked in an applied pressure to force a Cameron Henry steal which Larry laid up to push ISU's lead to 63-51 with 9:27 to go.
 
The Indiana State lead hit 72-53 at 6:17 thanks to a 9-0 run, and the Sycamores closed things out with back-to-back triples in the last minute of action.
 
Inside the Numbers

• The Sycamores held the edge in almost each statistical category, including field percentage. ISU outshot Evansville 53.8 percent to 41.8 percent from the field.
• The Sycamores hit 13 triples and dished out 19 assists, the most triples and assists in a game for ISU since the last time they faced Evansville on Dec. 29 earlier this season.
• ISU shot a season-high 50 percent (13-of-26) from three.
• The Sycamores outrebounded the Aces 35-27 and improved to 11-1 this season when outrebounding their opponent.
• Both teams committed 14 turnovers in the game, but ISU scored 21 points off Evansville miscues while the Aces scored just 14 points off ISU miscues. 

News & Notes

• Wednesday night was the first time ISU came from 10+-point deficit to win since Feb. 12, 2022 against Illinois State.
• Wednesday night was ISU's first road Valley win since Jan. 4, 2023 at Illinois State. The Sycamores have now won four Valley road games this season after winning just one last season.
• Wednesday night marks ISU's first Valley season sweep since defeating Evansville twice in the regular season in February of 2021.
• Cooper Neese's season-high three triples on the night makes 200 career 3-pointers for the senior, and his game-high 19 points ties a season-high.
• Alongside his 14 points, Julian Larry dished out a career-high seven assists while pulling down a season-high eight rebounds.
• Xavier Bledson posted double figures (13) off the bench in his second consecutive game.
• Courvoisier McCauley's 18-point, 11-rebound effort marks his third double-double of the season.

Up Next
The Sycamores return home for Hall of Fame Weekend in Terre Haute and will host Murray State at Hulman Center Saturday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
 
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