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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the second time this season, the Purple Aces men's basketball team welcomes a ranked opponent to the Ford Center as the Aces are set to face 13^th-ranked Wichita State at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
 
Tickets are still available for the game and can be purchased at the Ford Center before the game.  Fifth Third is the sponsor of the game and is also the presenting sponsor of a halftime performance by the Zooperstars.  The MVC TV Network will also broadcast the game with coverage being on Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Midwest, ESPN3 and other networks in the Midwest.
 
Evansville won its second-consecutive Missouri Valley Conference road game on Wednesday evening, hanging on for a 56-54 win at Missouri State.  The Aces overcame a second-half rally by the Bears to improve to 3-2 in league play for the fourth time since the 2001-02 season.  Mislav Brzoja was pivotal in the win, scoring a game-high 18 points while knocking down 7 of his 8 free throws.  For the 13th time this season, Egidijus Mockevicius posted a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 12 boards; he also added five blocks.  Prior to the win at Missouri State, the Aces lost 9 out of 10 road tilts against the Bears.  With the 13-4 start, head coach Marty Simmons continues his top start as the head coach of the Aces and has moved up to fourth in all-time program victories.
 
Redshirt sophomore Mislav Brzoja has made the start in the last six games for the Purple Aces.  In the four games leading up to the Indiana State contest, Brzoja averaged just four points per game; since then, he has hit double figures every time out while averaging 14.3 PPG.  His starts have seen him average 34.2 minutes per game.  Brzoja is also racking up the assists as he stands in seventh in the league with 3.2 per game.
 
Through five true road games this season, the Aces have gone 4-1 with the lone loss coming in overtime at Indiana State. This marks just the second 4-1 road start since the 29-0 National Championship Team in 1964-65.  The best road start for UE in the Division I era came in 1998-99 when the Aces were 7-1 in the first eight away from Roberts Stadium.
 
Wichita State comes to the Ford Center ranked 13th in the nation with a 15-2 mark.  The Shockers have been extremely successful in MVC play, winning their last 23 conference games, the longest streak in the Valley's modern era.  Ron Baker is the top scorer for WSU, posting 16.2 points per game.  Down low, Darius Carter has established himself as one of the top forwards in the MVC; he is coming off of a career-high 25 points against SIU.  Fred VanVleet continues to dish out the assists as he leads the MVC with a total of 96, an average that translates into 5.6 per game.