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For nine consecutive years, the University of Evansville has gone home from Carbondale, Ill. without a victory.  The Purple Aces will try to end that streak Tuesday night at SIU Arena when the 111th meeting between the Aces and Southern Illinois University takes place.  Tip-off is at 7:05 CST between the 9-8 Purple Aces and 9-9 Salukis. Both teams come into the game with 3-4 Missouri Valley Conference records, good for sixth place in the league.

Evansville will be going for its third consecutive MVC victory, and second in a row on the road.  The last time the Aces won three in a row in the league was 2006-07.  The last time they won two straight Valley road games came in the Aces' MVC championship season of 1998-99.
 
The 9-8 Aces matched their 2009-10 victory total on Saturday at Illinois State to go back above .500.  It was also the Aces’ third MVC win of the season, and came six weeks earlier than their third league victory last season.  Defense was the key in last week's two wins.  The Aces held Drake to 51 points and Illinois State to 54.  Only one other time in the last decade has Evansville held two straight MVC opponents to 54 points or less. That was at the end of last year, when the Aces beat Drake 56-53 and lost to Missouri State 52-46.
 
Center Clint Hopf isn't fully recovered from off-season knee surgery, but he has become one of Evansville's most valuable players off the bench.  The 6'7" senior totaled 10 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's win over Drake, and six points and six rebounds Saturday at Illinois State.  Hopf hit six of eight shots in the two games, and is now shooting 59 percent for the season.

Forward Kenneth Harris is making a case for selection to the MVC All-Newcomer Team.  The 6’6” junior is second in scoring at 10.4, and his 7.1 rebounding average is third best in the league.  Harris has at least 10 rebounds in three of his last six games.

Sophomore Colt Ryan on Saturday surpassed 700 career points.  He was the Valley’s second leading scorer as a freshman at 14.5 ppg, and is currently third at 16.1 after scoring a game-high 19 points in the Aces’ 59-54 win at Illinois State.

One key statistic this season for Evansville has been turnovers.  After committing only 12 compared to Illinois State’s 22 on Saturday, the Purple Aces are now 9-2 when they make fewer turnovers than the opposition.