Recap: Evansville vs. Illinois State

Evansville, IN (Sports Network) - Colt Ryan poured in 31 points for the Purple Aces as Evansville defeated the Illinois State Redbirds, 79-62, in Missouri Valley Conference action at the Ford Center.

Ned Cox added 16 points for Evansville (15-13, 8-8 MVC). Egidijus Mockevicius provided eight points, 11 rebounds and three blocks as the Purple Aces ended their brief, two-game losing slide.

Tyler Brown paced Illinois State (16-12, 7-9) with 21 points and Jackie Carmichael led the Redbirds on the glass with 14 rebounds. Illinois State has now lost two in a row after winning four consecutive games.

Evansville scored the first seven points of the contest and never surrendered the early advantage. Although they connected on 50 percent of their field goal attempts including 7-of-12 from 3-point range, the Redbirds went into the intermission trailing, 42-33. The hosts shot just 44.1 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, but attempted eight more field goals and converted 8-of-12 at the charity stripe to build the lead.

Illinois State was unable to mount a comeback after the break as it hit on just 27.8 percent of its field goal tries.

Evansville converted the Redbirds' 14 turnovers into 21 points. Illinois State scored only seven points off of the Purple Aces' seven miscues.