Game Notes
For the first time in 54 years, the University of Evansville takes on nearby Oakland City University in men's basketball. Game time is 7:05 Tuesday at Roberts Stadium between the 1-0 Purple Aces and 0-1 Mighty Oaks.
Here's a list of the Top 10 Things To Know for tonight's game:
1. This is the first regular season game between the Purple Aces and Mighty Oaks since 1954-55. Evansville leads the series 35-12.
2. Although Evansville and Oakland City haven’t played in the regular season for 54 years, they have played exhibition games in three of the past four years. Evansville won all three–by scores of 82-54 in 2004, 73-67 in 2005, and 82-43 in 2007.
3. The Mighty Oaks had just one starter returning this season–Josh Wilmes–and he is out for the season with a knee injury. Two transfers from the University of Southern Indiana–Brandon Hopf and Nathan Schumacher–were the co-leading scorers in Saturday’s 121-54 loss to Lipscomb with 11 points each.
4. Oakland City’s Brandon Hopf and Evansville’s Clint Hopf are cousins. Due primarily to the Hopfs, Forest Park High School won the IHSAA 2A state championship in 2005 and 2006.
5. OCU starting guard Chris Sandifar is the son of head coach Mike Sandifar.
6. OCU is an NCAA Division II member, and a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association.
7. A victory tonight will give the Aces their first 2-0 start since 2004, and only their second since 1999.
8. Evansville's senior class accounted for 46 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists in the Aces' 70-62 season opening win Saturday over Austin Peay. Shy Ely (23/10/3), Nate Garner (9/8/2) and Jason Holsinger (14/2/4) led the way as the Aces improved to 22-10 in season openers since going to the Division I level in 1977.
9. Two freshmen came off the bench to play key roles in Evansville's win on Saturday. Forward James Haarsma scored nine points in 12 minutes, and guard Kaylon Williams led the team with five assists while also scoring five points. The two combined for 6-for-7 shooting from the floor.
10. The Missouri Valley Conference is off to a 9-3 start this season, led by Southern Illinois’ victory last week over UMass that sends the Salukis to Madison Square Garden for a game against Duke Thursday in the 2K Sports Classic. The other semifinal game has UCLA against Michigan.
