Evansville vs Quinnipiac CBI Preview

The first round of the CBI starts today, so lets cover the Evansville (16-17) and Quinnipiac (24-9) game on Sunday at 4:30pm CDT.

The CBI Tournament gets started today as the following teams go to war:

• Arkansas State vs Bethune-Cookman at 12pm CDT

• UC San Diego vs Chicago State at 2:30pm CDT

• Seattle U vs Delaware State at 4:30pm CDT

The remainder of the first round games will start on Sunday, including the Evansville Purple Aces vs the Quinnipiac Bobcats. I promised Aces fans that we’d do a preview of the game to give more insight into the two teams that don’t know much about each other.

This was Quinnipiac’s best season in school history based on record. Prior to joining the MAAC in 2013, the Bobcats saw just two seasons with 20 or more wins in the North Eastern Conference in 2009 & 2010 where they won 23 and 22 games respectfully. Once they joined the MAAC, they started off well with a 20-12 record in 2014 and a 14-6 record in conference. However, things went downhill and the Bobcats were stuck with a near .500 or sub-.500 record up until 2022. Last season, they bounced back with a 20-12 record and 11-9 in conference. This season, they were regarded as one of the fastest growing mid-major programs in the country as they started off 19-4. Things fell apart amidst a 4-game losing streak in conference, but they bounced back to win 5 straight before losing to Saint Peter’s in the MAAC semifinals.

The Bobcats are an excellent team offensively. They rank 67th in the country in points per game at 77.8 and they are one of the best free throw shooting teams in the country coming in at #14 at 77.97% from the line. They are led by Matt Balanc who averages 18.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. The Sophomore Amarri Tice is a big presence down low averaging 13.2 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, and 1.8 steals per game.

For Evansville, this was the step forward they needed this year. After going 5-27 last season, the Purple Aces started off 10-2 on the season. Their two losses at the time came from Missouri State and #14 BYU. It was an impressive campaign that proves that 2nd year head coach David Ragland is righting the ship. The Aces floundered a bit in the Missouri Valley conference, finishing 15-16 on the season overall and 6-14 in conference. They had some tough breaks though, they lost on buzzer beater threes in back-to-back games against Murray State and Drake, plus they were out their best player Ben Humrichous for 9 games.

Unfortunately for the Aces, their leading scorer Ben Humrichous will also not be making the journey to Daytona Beach for the CBI. Humrichous averages 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game, so this is a huge loss for Evansville.

It will be a team effort for the Aces without Humrichous as they will run with their usual 8-man rotation without him. No player technically stands out statistically, but they all work well as a team together and have the ability to standout at any time. Freshmen Chuck Bailey and Joshua Hughes have both had breakout games at one point in the season, Tanner Cuff can back players down, and seniors Yacine Toumi and Kenny Strawbridge can both contribute 12+ a game.

Keys to the game:

Quinnipiac:

• Hold Evansville to 3pt shooting. The Aces aren’t an efficient 3pt shooting team, they rank 194th in the country at just 33%. That’s including Humrichous’ 41.4% shooting from behind the arc, so as a team they are shooting just 31% without him.

• Force Evansville to the line. Evansville shoots just 72% from the free throw line and without Humrichous, that number drops to 71%.

• Crash the boards. Evansville lacks depth with their big men, so they’ll be relying on Yacine Toumi and Josh Hughes to step up and rebound. If one of them gets into foul trouble, it’ll be wide open for Quinnipiac to double their rebound margin.

Evansville:

• Shot selection. Evansville shoots over 50% from the floor within the arc, so they need to remember that this is their strength. Chuck Bailey, Kenny Strawbridge, and Cam Haffner need to not worry about their 3pt shooting and focus on getting opportunities from the 15-17 foot range.

• Controlling the fouls. As mentioned, Quinnipiac is an excellent free throw shooting team, so if they continuously get to the line, it’ll be detrimental to the Aces effort. Evansville ranks #42 in the country for the most fouls per game, so they need to cut down on the fouls in this game.

• Feast down low. Evansville isn’t a great three point shooting team, so they need to rely on their presence down low. Yacine Toumi, Tanner Cuff, and Josh Hughes both have an opportunity to fill up the paint as Quinnipiac lacks size with their tallest player coming in at 6’8.

---

Reminder, the games are about to start so the CBI Bracket Challenge window is closing. If you want to enter, follow the link below!