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Winners of two in a row and four of its last five, the 6-3 University of Evansville basketball team takes on 7-5 Austin Peay State University Tuesday at Clarksville, Tenn. Tuesday’s game will be broadcast by the Aces Basketball / Old National Bank Radio Network– WUEV 91.5 FM./wuev.evansville.edu and Superhits 105.3 FM with Brandon Gaudin and Scott Shreffler calling the action.

•Tuesday’s game will be the 23rd between the Purple Aces and Governors. Evansville leads the series 16-6, and has won three in a row–80-75 at Clarksville on Dec. 18, 2006, 72-62 at Roberts Stadium on Dec. 8, 2007, and 70-62 at Roberts Stadium on Nov. 15, 2008. Shy Ely scored 23 points to lead Evansville to the win last season. Caleb Brown scored a career-high 20 to lead the Governors.

•The 7-5 Govs are coming off a 90-69 loss to #3 ranked Kentucky on Saturday. Wes Channels hit 5 of 11 three-pointers to tie UK’s Patrick Patterson for game-high scoring honors with 21 points. Austin Peay is 4-1 at home, losing only to Drake of the Missouri Valley Conference on Nov. 28, 78-72.

•Now 6-3, Evansville has clinched a winning record in non-conference games for the fourth straight season. Tuesday’s game at Austin Peay and a BracketBusters game in February are the only contests remaining outside the MVC. Over the past four years, the Purple Aces are 29-15 in non-conference games.

•James Haarsma has four double-doubles this season, including two in a row. He has climbed to #1 in the MVC in rebounding (8.7) and #4 in scoring (14.9). Haarsma scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Thursday’s 75-58 win over Georgia Southern, followed by 18 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's 84-63 win over UT-Martin. Haarsma hit 13 of 20 shots and 18 of 22 free throws in the two games.

•With veteran guard Kavon Lacey out of the lineup following arthroscopic knee surgery, freshman Troy Taylor has stepped up. Taylor made 15 assists and only one turnover in Evansville's two wins last week. He had a 7-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist game Saturday against UT-Martin. It was the third time this season that the 6-foot Taylor has pulled down 10 rebounds or more.

Coming Up

The Aces get Dec. 23 and 24 off before resuming practice Christmas Day at 4:00 at Carson Center. They’ll practice through Dec. 27 at Carson before returning to Roberts Stadium on Monday the 28th.

Around The Valley

With only seven games remaining before league play begins Dec. 29, Missouri Valley Conference teams are 70-29 (.707) for the ninth best non-conference record in the 102-year history of the league. It’s the second best winning percentage for the MVC in the last 47 seasons. •The league is now 2-5 against top-25 teams, but 8-7 against members of BCS leagues after going 5-21 against BCS schools last season. •The MVC is now 4-3 in the inaugural Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge series (Illinois State won by 10 at Utah, and Creighton lost by 5 at New Mexico on Saturday). The series ends this week as San Diego State visits Drake and Wyoming visits UNI. Evansville is the only school not involved in the Challenge this season. The Aces will join the fray next season. •The MVC picked up four more road wins on Saturday and now boast an 18-11 record in true road games. The league went a combined 10-24 on the road last season in non-conference play. •The Missouri State Bears (10 wins in a row, 10-0 overall), Wichita State (8, 10-1), and UNI (7, 8-1) all extended lengthy winning streaks on Saturday. MSU will come into Evansville Dec. 29 with an 11-0 record IF the Bears can win Tuesday at Arkansas.