Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Purple Aces look to extend their winning streak to six games over UNI as they entertain the Panthers on Wednesday evening at the Ford Center with tip set for 7:05 p.m.
 
Evansville fell by a final of 81-62 in Saturday's home league opener to Indiana State.  A quick start saw UE lead by six points in the early going before the Sycamores rallied to go up by four at the half and later added to that advantage in the second half.  D.J. Balentine and Jaylon Moore were the top scorers for the Aces, checking in with 23 and 14, respectively.  By finishing the evening shooting 45.7%, UE fell to 0-8 when shooting under 50% while remaining a perfect 7-0 when over that threshold.
 
It was a thrill watching junior Jaylon Moore add to his repertoire with long jumpers and floaters versus the Sycamores.  Moore hit four of his five attempts along with 6/8 free throws en route to a career-best 14 points on Saturday.  His efforts from the free throw line were also the best in his career as he eclipsed his previous best of making four in one game.  For the season, Moore has scored 78 points; he is on pace to surpass his total of 123 points scored last season.
 
The 10th 20+ point outing of the season for D.J. Balentine has set his season average at 22.6 points per game, tops in the Missouri Valley Conference and 8th in the country.  Even with his high scoring average, Balentine has continued to look for his teammates as his average of 4.1 helpers per game ranks fourth in the league.
 
UNI comes to Evansville with an even 7-7 mark while splitting its opening two league games; the Panthers topped Bradley by a final of 80-46 before hanging tough at Wichita State before falling by a final of 67-53.  The Panthers are averaging 70.9 points per game - the highest per game average since the 2001-02 season; they have posted a Missouri Valley Conference-best ranking of No. 22 in the nation with its nonconference strength of schedule.
 
Deon Mitchell leads UNI with an average of 13.4 points per game; he was the lone double-digit scorer in the game at Wichita, posting 16 points.  Seth Tuttle is just behind him with 12.8 PPG; he is also the leading rebounder in the conference, hauling in an average of 8.1 per game.
 
Evansville has had the upper hand against UNI over the last 2+ seasons, winning the last five meetings, including a pair on the road with the other three coming at home.  Overall, UE owns a 23-19 edge in the series and is 16-5 in games played in Evansville; while Evansville has won the last five and six of the previous seven outings, UNI won 10 in a row dating from 2005 through 2010.  Despite its solid mark versus the Panthers over the last three years, nothing has come easy against what has always been a solid squad; the last three wins have come by a combined seven points.