Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sitting at 1-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference, the University of Evansville basketball team returns to the Ford Center on Wednesday evening to face Loyola at 7 p.m.
 
Tickets to the game are just $5 courtesy of the Courier and Press.  Look for the coupon inside the Courier and Press or on the UE Athletics social media accounts.  Popcorn and sodas will be $1.  It will also be nationally televised on the MVC TV Network.
 
A late rally in Terre Haute saw Indiana State earn a 79-75 win over the Purple Aces on Sunday in the Hulman Center.  Four UE players hit double figures, led by Mislav Brzoja, who finished the night with 17.  Egidijus Mockevicius (13 pts, 14 rbs) posted his 10th double-double of the season while D.J. Balentine notched 15; Balentine has hit double figures in all 14 games so far.   Evansville shot 57.1% in the second half and led by as many as seven points in the final minutes, the primary different came from outside as the Sycamores finished the day at 7-of-15.
 
Evansville's three losses this season have come by a total of just eight points.  You have to go all the way back to the 1959-60 NCAA Championship season to find a team whose first three losses came by as few points.  That team lost just four games all season, but its first three defeats also came by a total of just eight tallies.
 
With Adam Wing on the mend, Mislav Brzoja has started the last three games for the Purple Aces.  In those starts, Brzoja has played an average of 37 minutes per game.  He continues to dish out assists at an all-conference level with 4/game in the last five outings.  In the four games prior to Indiana State, Brzoja averaged 4 points per game, hitting 6 out of 20 attempts; he turned that around against the Sycamores, leading the Aces with 17 points.
 
D.J. Balentine is tied for fourth in the nation in scoring and has registered double figures in each of UE's 14 games in 2014-15.  His unbelievable streak, which dates back to the beginning of last season, has seen him record 10 or more points in 45 out of 47 games.  Last year, Balentine hit double figures in the first 15 games; prior to that, Marcus Wilson began the 1997-98 season with 18 double-digit games in a row.
 
Picked to finish tenth in the preseason MVC poll, Loyola has come out on fire, going 11-3 in its first 14 games.  The Ramblers have gotten the job done on both ends of the floor, ranking in the top three in shooting and defense.  Christian Thomas leads the way for Loyola with 12.9 points per game.  Defending MVC Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year Milton Doyle is next on the list with 12.7 PPG; he also leads the squad with 51 assists.  Loyola is the top 3-point shooting team in the MVC, checking in at 40.1%; on the flip side, they are also the top defense on outside shots, allowing the opposition to hit just 28.8% of their attempts.