Evansville coach David Ragland wanted to challenge his team in the preseason to prepare the Purple Aces for the Missouri Valley Conference.
He’ll get his wish Tuesday in Columbus when Evansville takes on Ohio State, with the Buckeyes looking to bounce back from a 78-64 loss at No. 23 Texas A&M on Friday that dropped them out of the AP Top 25 poll.
“We wanted to stay regional and play against an opponent that will be a tough environment,” Ragland said. “Ohio State was one of the first ready to get it done. And to get a home game (for Ohio State) with it was important.”
The Purple Aces (1-3) learned a rough lesson Saturday at home when they built a 22-point lead in the first half, led by 18 at halftime but lost 92-81 to Radford.
“This one stings. Being up as much as we were at home, you have to win these types of games,” Ragland said. “We need to play a full 40 minutes and have not done that to this point. We need to look in the mirror and get better individually and as a team.”
A positive was that the Purple Aces tied the program record with 17 3-pointers on 35 attempts. Cameron Haffner made 6 of 10 for a career-high 23 points.
Evansville’s willingness to fire from long distance could be a welcome change for the Buckeyes after the physical battle with Texas A&M. Forty-five fouls were called and the Aggies were 32-of-40 from the free-throw line while the Ohio State made 16 of 22.
“We’ve got guys who fight,” Ohio State coach Jake Diebler told the Columbus Dispatch “There wasn’t a second in the game where I felt like we weren’t fighting and playing hard and playing tough. We’ve just got to play more poised. We’ve got to execute a little bit better.”
Ohio State (2-1) was seeking a second win over a Top 25 opponent after downing then-No. 19 Texas 80-72 in Las Vegas in the season opener. The Buckeyes defeated Youngstown State 81-47 in their home opener on Nov. 11.
Their downfall against Texas A&M was an inability to convert from beyond the arc. After making 24 of 50 (48 percent) 3-pointers combined in the first two games, they sank just 8 of 30 (26.7 percent), three by freshman John Mobley Jr. off the bench.
“We didn’t play well enough for big enough stretches to win the game,” Diebler said. “But we did some really good things, particularly in the second half, that will prepare us to be better the next time we’re out there and next time we’re on the road. We showed we can do some really good things next time we have this opportunity.”
