Game Notes
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Three of the next four games will be on the road for the University of Evansville men's basketball team, beginning with a trip to Northern Iowa on Wednesday evening.
ESPN3 will carry the game while you can also listen on 91.5 WUEV or online at
www.WUEV.org. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the McLeod Center.
Evansville made it three out of five with a 66-60 win over Bradley on Sunday at the Ford Center. The Aces led throughout the duration of the contest, going up by as many as 13 before holding on for the 6-point win. D.J. Balentine continued to impress, scoring 24 points while hitting all 12 free throws to lead all players; Egidijus Mockevicius had the top MVC outing of his career, scoring 15. For the first time this season, Evansville earned a win when two or fewer scorers reached double figures; prior to the game against the Braves, UE was 0-9 in that stat.
With 24 points against Bradley, Balentine has hit the 20-point mark on 14 occasions this season while scoring 12 or more in 20 out of 21 games this season. The sophomore continues to lead the MVC in scoring with 22 points per game while remaining tenth in the country. He went 100% (12/12) from the free throw line versus the Braves as he pushed his season average to 87.3%, second in the Valley.
The top rebounder in MVC play added six more to his tally against Bradley as Mockevicius has averaged 8.0 rebounds in 8 MVC games. With 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, Mockevicius had his best conference effort against Bradley; Mockevicius has hit 12 of his last 18 shots en route to taking the conference shooting lead at 60.4%.
It is admirable for any player to be the No. 2 scorer on their team, but take into account that you are a true freshman; and the top scoring true freshman in the Missouri Valley Conference and you have one Blake Simmons. Standing at 9.1 PPG, Simmons has established himself as a sharp shooter from outside; after hitting 13 triples in 13 non-conference games, Simmons has drained 13 in his first 8 league games, hitting a team-best 41.9% of his treys in MVC play.
UNI enters play on Wednesday with a 10-10 record along with an even 4-4 mark in the MVC; since topping UE by an 80-53 margin in their first meeting, the Panthers have dropped three out of five games. Despite that mark, the Panthers have continued to be effective offensively, posting an average of 75.1 points, a number that is tops in league play. Since hitting 14 out of 30 triples at the Ford Center, UNI has continued to be accurate from long range, downing 49 out of 117 attempts (41.9%).
Sophomore sharpshooter Matt Bohannon has averaged 3.4 treys per game in Valley games, No. 1 overall; he led the Panthers with 17 points in the game at the Ford Center as he hit five of his nine 3-point attempts. He has hit 27 out of 56 triples in league game. Last time out against Loyola, it was Deon Mitchell taking the spotlight as he posted a team-best 23 points as he hit four 3-pointers and 9 free throws. The top scorer for UNI is junior Seth Tuttle, whose 16.8 PPG in MVC play is tops overall; he is also the top rebounder in the conference with 8.0 per game; he added nine caroms and 17 points to his totals versus the Ramblers.
An 80-53 win by UNI at the Ford Center earlier this season ended a UE five-game win streak in the series as the Aces hold a 23-20 lead. Despite winning the last two games in Cedar Falls, the Aces still trail by a 7-12 mark in road contests versus the Panthers. In recent years, the series has been a defensive battle, in fact - the 80 points scored by UNI on Jan. 8 were the most scored by either team in the series since UE took a 92-73 win on Jan. 7, 2005; that was a span of 17 games.