What did he do in the offseason to lose the weight that he has and the ability to keep it off once basketball season has been in full swing? WBR: Marty Simmons looks like a totally different man this season. The irrational ones don’t understand why the Aces can’t compete on even footing with Top 25 teams every year. There are some who are still living in the past and long for the days of the five national championships at what is now the D2 level (formerly the college division). For a school with only 2,500 students and high academic standards, the sensible fans understand that the Aces’ best shot is to recruit good players, develop them over four years and attempt to compete for a conference title every few seasons. RB: Most UE fans want to see the team be competitive every season in the Valley and have a shot at some form of postseason, even if it isn’t the NCAA or NIT. WBR: What kind of expectations are there for the Evansville basketball team by the fans and are those expectations being met? He still has to be cleared for any contact by the team doctor. He participated on a limited basis in a practice the players held on Thursday without the coaches. RB: Simmons said Harris is listed as questionable, but I think he will play. WBR: Kenneth Harris recently suffered a concussion keeping out of Wednesday’s game against Missouri State. He also had six assists against Missouri State. He’s had at least five rebounds in four of the last seven games and he’s made nine steals over the last two games. What has pleased Simmons is that Colt has made contributions in other areas. He’s also had some shots blocked trying to drive to the rim more. He came out of it in the second half against SIU, hitting 3 of 5 3-pointers. But Colt would be the first to tell you that he’s also been in a bit of a shooting slump. Teams have gambled that if they can stop him, they can beat UE.
RB: Mostly, he’s just gotten a lot of defensive attention, especially from behind the arc. What has caused his numbers to look so different recently? WBR: Colt Ryan seemed unstoppable last season as a freshman and even parts of this season, but went through some struggles during this winning streak. He only had two points in the road win at Indiana State, a game in which Harris only had four points, and yet the Aces dominated the second half. Ryan has only had two big scoring nights in the last seven games - 19 at Illinois State and 23 vs. They’ve also gotten better offensive production in the post from Pieter van Tongeren and Clint Hopf. When players like Colt Ryan and Kenneth Harris have had tough shooting nights, or gotten into foul trouble, the Aces have had players like Ned Cox, Troy Taylor and, lately, Lewis Jones, step up. They had it at times in the non-conference schedule, but it’s really kicked in over the last three weeks. Marty Simmons has said all along that for the Aces to be successful this season, they needed to get quality minutes from the bench. What has been the major change since that game? White & Blue Review: Since Evansville and Creighton played earlier in the season, the Aces have gone on to win 6 of their last 7. We checked in with columnist Randy Beard of the Evansville Courier & Press to help us get caught up on the what’s been going on with the Purple Aces these past few weeks. Their last win came Wednesday against league leader Missouri State, and they pulled off the home victory without their top rebounder and second leading scorer. The Purple Aces, on the other hand, have turned everything around and have won 6 of their last 7 games, including a current 4-game winning streak. Since then Creighton has been inconsistent at best, losing five of the next seven games including giving Bradley their first conference win on Tuesday. The Bluejays’ confidence appeared to be riding high and a strong conference season was well ahead of them. The last time Creighton faced Evansville, they were on a weekend road trip at the beginning of conference season and put the Bluejays at an early 4-1 mark while Evansville sat at 1-4.
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