Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s basketball team will look to extend its winning streak to four games as it hosts Alabama A&M on Monday evening at 7:05 p.m. inside the Ford Center.
 
The Purple Aces are coming off of a dominating 62-50 win at Tennessee Tech last Tuesday as the Aces led by as many as 25 points before coming home with the 12-point win.  Ned Cox led the way with 15 points while freshman #D.J. Balentine# notched 11.
 
Evansville’s defense has turned it up over the last two games, holding WIU and TTU to just 47 PPG while holding each to under 20 points in a half.  Large runs have been key in those contests; in the win over WIU, the Aces held the Leathernecks scoreless over a span of 8:28 in the second half, forcing them to miss all five shots along with eight turnovers.  A similar run in the first half at Tennessee Tech saw UE go on a 20-2 run while holding the Golden Eagles to 1-11 shooting over that span.
 
UE has held its last two opponents to 50 or fewer points; by comparison, Evansville held just one team to under 50 last season as Western Illinois mustered up 45 points in a Feb. 18 meeting.  This year the Leathernecks scored just 44 points versus UE, the fewest point an opponent has scored since Oakland City had 42 in the 2010-11 season opener.
 
With Colt Ryan out of the lineup, Evansville has been looking elsewhere for it scoring; in the last three games, one of the stars has been senior Ned Cox.  The San Antonio native led the way with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting at Tennessee Tech.  Cox has also found his stroke from long range; after hitting 2-9 threes in the first two games (22.2%), he has hit 5-12 (41.7%) of his treys.
 
Sophomore Jaylon Moore posted 30 points in his entire freshman season, but has improved greatly in his second season at UE as he already has scored 22 points through five games.  Moore set a new career mark with nine tallies at Tennessee Tech while registering three rebounds and a blocked shot; since the Yale game, he has hit 9-of-13 shots while averaging 6.7 PPG.
 
#D.J. Balentine# has also been stellar in the Aces three-game win streak; the freshman is tied with Cox for the team lead with 11.7 PPG over the streak; in the losses for UE, he chipped in an average of 4.5 points.  In the win at Tennessee Tech, Balentine went 4-8 (3-5 from 3-pt range) to score 11 points while grabbing three boards; he is UE’s leading three-point shooter, hitting eight on the season while hitting 40% of his attempts.
 
Coming off of a 7-21 campaign a season ago, Alabama A&M is 2-2 thus far in the young season; AAMU has wins over Miles and Oakwood while falling at Iowa State and Jacksonville State.  Demarquelle Tabb leads Alabama A&M in points (12.3), rebounds (8.8) and blocks (9).  Last time out, the Bulldogs picked up a 103-77 win over Oakwood; Justin Colvin led the way with 19 points.
 
Monday’s game against Alabama A&M will mark the first meeting between the two schools.  The Bulldogs are members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Aces are a perfect 5-0 against the league.  Evansville is 2-0 versus both Alabama State and Alcorn State while posting a 1-0 mark against Jackson State.