EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Southeast Missouri (1-2) committed 18 turnovers and 24 fouls in a 66-50 loss to Missouri Valley Conference member Evansville (3-0) Thursday.
 
UE held Ohio Valley Conference leading scorer Denzel Mahoney to just three points on 1-of-7 field goals. Mahoney's only points came on a 3-pointer with 7:45 left to play. It was the second-lowest point total of Mahoney's career.
 
SEMO struggled against a physical and sound UE team.
 
"Evansville was really prepared," said Redhawks head coach Rick Ray. "The only chance you have to beat a team like this is to be disciplined. We took bad shots and simply lacked discipline tonight."
 
The Purple Aces jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first 3:26 of the game. SEMO, which never led in the contest, answered with a 8-3 jaunt and pulled to within three on Justin Carpenter's jumper with 13:58 left to play.
 
Milos Vranes' 3-pointer narrowed UE's lead to three again, but that was as close as the Redhawks would get.
 
UE expanded its lead to 36-21 at the half.
 
Dru Smith's two free throws gave the Purple Aces their largest lead at 58-32 with 8:36 to go before UE closed out the victory.
 
Vranes led SEMO with a double-double 16 points and 10 rebounds, the first of his career. He shot 6-of-11 from the field and buried three 3-pointers in 28 minutes off the bench.
 
Ryan Taylor and Smith each scored 17 points to lead UE. The Purple Aces outscored SEMO, 22-4, at the free throw line.
 
SEMO fell to 1-7 all-time against UE in Evansville.
 
The Redhawks head to Cancun, Mexico to face Cal State Northridge on Nov. 21 and either Binghamton or Montana State on Nov. 22.