Game Notes  -  Tickets  -  Live Stats

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men's basketball team will be back at the Ford Center on Tuesday evening to face UT Martin in the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament beginning at 6 p.m.
 
Tickets are still available for just $15 while youth (under 17) tickets cost $5.  You may purchase tickets at the Carson Center Ticket Office, the Ford Center, by calling 812-488-ACES or by visiting TicketMaster.com.  For those unable to make it to Evansville, you can watch the game live on the CBS Sports Network.
 
Should the Purple Aces defeat the Skyhawks on Tuesday, they would officially host the championship game on Thursday evening.  A release with full information on that possibility will be sent out later.
 
Evansville played one of its best games of the season in a raucous atmosphere on its way to defeating Louisiana, 89-82, on Thursday at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette.  It was D.J. Balentine leading the way once again, hitting 11 of his 18 attempts on his way to tying his season mark of 35 points.  The Aces shot 56.6% in the win, including 60% (15/25) in the first half alone; UL shot just 41.4%.
 
UE led by 7 at halftime before the Ragin Cajuns cut the gap to one in the second half; the Aces overcame that to lead by 10 in the final minutes.  With Egidijus Mockevicius in foul trouble, Jaylon Moore came off the bench to score 10 in the first half; Adam Wing (11) and Mislav Brzoja (10) also finished in double figures.
 
Thanks to the 89-82 win at Louisiana, the Aces are set to host UT Martin on Tuesday, March 31.  It is the latest game in program history; two years, ago, UE faced East Carolina on March 30, which was the previous record.  This will also mark the latest home game in school history as the previous late game was on March 22, 1988 as UE hosted Boston College in the NIT.  In 2013, UE faced Eastern Kentucky on March 23 in the CIT, but this was played at USI and went in the books as a neutral site game.
 
Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, D.J. Balentine has been one of the top scorers in the country, his total of 1,431 points is the second-most in the nation over that span.  The only other player to score more was Tyler Haws of BYU, his total finished at 1,543.
 
The Purple Aces have done a great job this season in their efforts away from the Ford Center.  Overall, UE is 10-7 away from home; it is the first time UE has won that many games away from home since winning 12 away from Roberts Stadium in 1998-99.  In true non-conference road games, the Aces are a perfect 4-0; in 1994-95, the Aces were 2-0 in those games, prior to that, the top non-conference road mark came in 1964-65 as UE was 12-0 away from home.  With wins at Eastern Illinois and Louisiana, the Aces won back-to-back postseason road games for the first time since 1967-68 when UE defeated Lincoln (Mo.) and Missouri State in the NCAA Tournament.
 
UT Martin was just 8-23 last season, but made one of the top jumps in the nation and is currently 21-12.  The Skyhawks also jumped from 3-13 in Ohio Valley Conference play to 10-6 this season.  Five players are averaging double figures for the team, including three checking in at over 13 PPG.  Deville Smith tops that list with 13.7 points and a team-best 57 steals.  Twymond Howard is second at 13.5 while Marshun Newell is third with 13.4 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds.  As a team, UTM is shooting 45.2% from the field and 44.2% (34/77) from outside in the CIT.