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The only Missouri Valley Conference team that Evansville has not beaten in
Marty Simmons’ three-plus years as head coach is Illinois State, and the Purple Aces will try to stop the streak Saturday at Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill. Game time is one hour earlier than usual, at 6:05 CST. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Indiana and Fox Sports Kansas City. There will be no video streaming of Saturday's game since it is being televised.
•Illinois State has won eight in a row against Evansville. The most recent Aces’ win was a 69-41 romp at Roberts Stadium in the first MVC game of 2006-07. Illinois State has won 20 games or more three years in a row, but after losing their top three scorers to graduation, the 2010-11 Redbirds have lost all six MVC games.
•Junior forward
Kenneth Harris has pulled down 10 or more rebounds four times, including three times in the last five games. He had 13 in the two MVC games that Evansville has won, against Indiana State Jan. 1 and Drake on Wednesday. Harris is the Valley’s third leading rebounder at 7.4 per game.
•Senior center
Pieter van Tongeren has produced two of his best games in the past week, combining for 9-for-15 shooting against Creighton and Drake. His 12 points Wednesday against Drake were the most for van Tongeren in an MVC game since Jan. 15, 2008, when he scored 16 as a freshman against Southern Illinois.
•Sophomore guard
Troy Taylor has also turned it up a notch in January. He totaled seven points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals at Missouri State Jan. 7, and followed with six rebounds, two steals and two assists Wednesday against Drake.
•Among Evansville’s top eight scorers, only
Ned Cox is averaging more points in MVC games than non-conference games. Cox is now at 9.7 ppg in Valley games, second on the team behind Colt Ryan’s 13.7. Cox led the Aces in scoring Wednesday against Drake with 15 points, and also led the team with four assists.
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Colt Ryan is only 3-for-11 from three-point range in his last three games, but he’s still the MVC leader in three-point shooting accuracy at 45.8%. Ryan is the league’s second leading scorer at 15.9. He was also the Valley’s second leading scorer as a freshman, at 14.5 ppg.
