Game Notes
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men's basketball team looks to defeat back-to-back conference champions from last season as they play host to defending Horizon League champion Valparaiso on Wednesday evening at the Ford Center.
Tip is set for 8:05 p.m. and is part of a doubleheader that begins with the UE women taking on Ball State at 5:30 p.m. The Purple Aces are looking for their first 4-0 start since the 1986-87 season. Evansville improved to 3-0 with Monday's 89-76 win over Mercer.
As fate would have it, sophomore #D.J. Balentine# finished with yet another 29-point outing as he hit the mark for the third game in a row to begin the season. Against Mercer, Balentine was 7-of-16 from the floor while draining 14 out of 15 free throws he played 33 minutes and is the league leader with 37 minutes per game. His efforts to open the season are the best in 26 years as current UE head coach Marty Simmons was the last Aces player to open the year with
3 20-point efforts in a row; he did so in the first five games of the 1987-88 campaign.
The sophomore is the first Ace since Andy Elkins in the 1994-95 season to score 29 points in three straight games; Elkins had 29 vs. Bethune Cookman (2/16/95), 29 at Creighton (2/18/95) and 32 in a road game against Drake (2/20/95). Scott Haffner was the last Evansville player to score 29 points or more in four consecutive games; he did so in the 1988-89 season; his streak took place from Feb. 16-25, 1989 with his totals as follows: 32 vs. Xavier, 65 vs. Dayton, 35 at Detroit and 43 at Loyola.
Freshman Duane "Boo" Gibson has given UE a boost at the point guard position as he ranks second on the team in scoring (14.3 PPG), tops in rebounds (6.3 RPG) and assists (14). Gibson is another player who has done a great job of taking good shots; for the season, he has hit 11 of his 17 attempts, 64.7%. The Cleveland native has been even better from the free throw line, hitting 21 out of 25 on the season, an 84% clip.
In each of the three games so far, the Purple Aces have shot the ball over 50% while holding the opposition below that mark. The last time the Aces accomplished that feat came in 2010-11 then they shot 59.2% vs. UMES, 54.3% vs. MTSU and 52.5% against Norfolk State. Through the opening three games, Evansville has outrebounded the opposition in each contest and holds an even +5.0 edge on the boards. Last season, UE had a similar stretch where it outrebounded Creighton, Illinois State and Wright State in February by an average of seven PPG.
Evansville looks for its second- consecutive win over a conference champion from last season against the Crusaders, who won the Horizon League Tournament last season and were regular season champions in 2011-12. The Crusaders opened the year with home wins over Murray State (77-74) and North Park (113-50) before dropping road contests at Illinois (64-52) and Ohio U. (76-72).
Three Valparaiso players average double digits, led by LaVonte Dority's 15.5 points; Jordan Coleman and Alec Peters also average double figures and are the team's top two rebounders;
Coleman checks in at 14 PPG and 6.8 RPG while Peters stands at 11 points and 7.0 rebounds.
One of the longest rivalries in school history; the Aces and Crusaders have met on 82 occasions with UE coming out on the winning end 65 times. Since 1988, Evansville has won eight out of nine meetings, including a 69-64 win in the last meeting in Evansville on Dec. 5, 2006; UE is 38-5 all-time in home games vs. Valpo. A season later on Dec. 11, 2007, Valparaiso picked up a home win, taking a 75-67 decision.
