Evansville is much better than the rest of our buy game opponents. They are #167 on Torvik and are balanced, with top 200 offense and defense. They play fast, and are elite at taking care of the ball and defensive rebounding. They are very poor on the offensive glass though.
Offensively, they don't shoot it well from three but don't attempt many. Stretch 4 Ben Humrichous is the only guy putting up more than a few threes per game, and he has made 50% of his 60 attempts on the season. Almost everyone will shoot it though, despite many players hitting under 30%. They are much better inside the arc, converting 64% at the rim and 42% from midrange. The offense is balanced, as everyone can score. 6'7 point forward Tanner Cuff has by far the highest assist rate, but is a poor shooter who doesn't put up midrange shots.
Defensively, they give up a ton of threes. 42% of opponent field goals come from beyond the arc. But they are a big team that keeps opponents off the offensive glass, so we probably won't be able to count on extra possessions like we are used to.
The key to this game will be guarding their unconventional positions. Evansville's most efficient scorer is a stretch 4, and their best creator is a point forward. If Vik is playing the 4, he needs to be active on the perimeter. Whichever wing is on Cuff will need to go under screens and stay in front. On offense we can look for open threes and try to get to the rim against their bigger perimeter players. We can't be scared of their size and settle for midrange jumpers. Missouri St put up 90 points by making 9 threes, getting to the rim 25 times, and only putting up 11 midrange shots. We should be able to repeat that.
Offensively, they don't shoot it well from three but don't attempt many. Stretch 4 Ben Humrichous is the only guy putting up more than a few threes per game, and he has made 50% of his 60 attempts on the season. Almost everyone will shoot it though, despite many players hitting under 30%. They are much better inside the arc, converting 64% at the rim and 42% from midrange. The offense is balanced, as everyone can score. 6'7 point forward Tanner Cuff has by far the highest assist rate, but is a poor shooter who doesn't put up midrange shots.
Defensively, they give up a ton of threes. 42% of opponent field goals come from beyond the arc. But they are a big team that keeps opponents off the offensive glass, so we probably won't be able to count on extra possessions like we are used to.
The key to this game will be guarding their unconventional positions. Evansville's most efficient scorer is a stretch 4, and their best creator is a point forward. If Vik is playing the 4, he needs to be active on the perimeter. Whichever wing is on Cuff will need to go under screens and stay in front. On offense we can look for open threes and try to get to the rim against their bigger perimeter players. We can't be scared of their size and settle for midrange jumpers. Missouri St put up 90 points by making 9 threes, getting to the rim 25 times, and only putting up 11 midrange shots. We should be able to repeat that.