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The University of Evansville men's basketball team (11-9, 5-5) has won four of its last five games, and goes for its third consecutive win Saturday night when the Salukis of Southern Illinois (10-11, 4-6) come to Roberts Stadium for a 7:05 CST game.  The last time the Aces won three straight Missouri Valley Conference games was 2006-07.  Southern Illinois has lost four of its last five, but the Salukis have beaten the Aces in seven of their last eight meetings.

SIU beat Evansville 67-55 at Carbondale Jan. 18 despite 18 points from Pieter van Tongeren, tying his career high.  van Tongeren hit 8 of 11 shots, but his teammates were just 11-for-38.  While UE shot only 39 percent, the Salukis shot 47 percent and were led by 15 points from Carlton Fay and 11 from Mykel Cleveland.

At 5-5 in the MVC, the Aces have the same record now as they did 10 games into the 2007 and 2009 conference seasons.  UE’s three best starts in the last decade in MVC games have come in 2007, 2009 and this year.  The 2007 team ended up 6-12 and finished seventh. In 2009 the Aces tied for fifth place at 8-10 record and went on to play in the CollegeInsider.com Post-Season Tournament.
 
Wednesday’s win at Indiana State moved the Aces into a tie for fifth place with Creighton.  Evansville has finished fifth or higher in the MVC six times in its first 16 years in the league, in 1995 (5th), 1996 (T5th), 1997 (T4th), 1999 (1st), 2003 (T5th) and 2009 (T5th).

Everyone’s player of the game in Wednesday’s comeback victory at Indiana State was 6’6” freshman Jordan Jahr.  He finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds after having just three points and three rebounds at halftime.  The 14 rebounds were the most by an Evansville player since Ian Hanavan grabbed 14 against Bradley in 2002-03. In his previous nine Missouri Valley Conference games
combined, Jahr totaled 16 points and seven rebounds.

Aside from Jahr, UE’s hottest player right now is junior Denver Holmes.  He is 11-for-15 from the floor in his last two games after going 4-for-16 in his previous two games.  Holmes tied his career high with three 3-pointers at Indiana State Wednesday.

This is Coaches vs. Cancer® Suits and Sneakers awareness weekend. Basketball coaches nationwide will wear sneakers with their suits to demonstrate the National Association of Basketball Coaches’
support for the American Cancer Society.