Evansville defeats Missouri State, 76-59
  Senior Egidijus Mockevicius became just the third player in program history and the 14th player in the Missouri Valley Conference record books to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds as the Purple Aces men’s basketball team picked up a 76-59 win over Missouri State on Saturday at JQH Arena.
“In the second half, we did what we needed to do to get the win. We have a lot of room for improvement to get where we need to be,†head coach Marty Simmons said. “Everyone knows where we go on Wednesday and we just have to get better before heading to Wichita.â€
Mockevicius tied his career mark with 21 rebounds and finished the day with an even 1,000 caroms. He also added 21 points on an unbelievable 6-of-7 shooting day. D.J. Balentine had a stellar day with 19 points while Adam Wing finished the game with 15.
The Aces (13-2, 2-0 MVC) put the first points on the board, leading 2-0, but the Bears were helped by a Chris Kendrix triple as they took a 9-6 lead. Evansville fought back with 9-0 stretch as Mislav Brzoja nailed a triple and Mockevicius added three more points to give UE a 15-9 lead. With UE continuing to lead at 17-11, the Bears (4-10, 0-2 MVC) went on a 16-2 run to take their largest lead at 27-19 on a Jarred Dixon layup.
Mockevicius ended a UE scoring drought that spanned over six minutes with his fourth bucket of the game with three minutes remaining and Adam Wing wrapped up the period with a triple to send UE to the locker room trailing by just three, 30-27. Turnovers plagued the Aces in the 1st as they committed 11. UE still finished the period shooting 45.5%.
Just as they did in the Valley opener against Indiana State, the Aces came out with a renewed energy in the second half. Jaylon Brown scored five points in the opening minutes of the final stanza to tie it up at 32-32. A Balentine free throw and dunk helped UE cap off a 14-6 run to open up the half, but the Bears came back within one at 41-40.
Evansville continued to crank on offense as a pair of Mockevicius free throws gave the Aces a 43-40 advantage. With 10:32 left, a pair of free throws brought MSU back within one at 44-43 before the game-changing run came. Evansville scored 20 points in a row to go up 64-43. Over the course of that run, Mockevicius recorded the 1,000th rebound of his career.
That was the difference in the game as Evansville was able to finish off the 76-59 victory to move to 2-0 in league play and 13-2 overall.
The Bears were led by a 16-point effort from Chris Kendrix. He hit a pair of triples and six of his seven free throws. Dequon Miller was next up for MSU with 14 tallies. Mockevicius’ effort of 21 rebounds helped UE finish with a 37-28 lead on the boards. UE also shot 54.8% on the day while holding the Bears to 37.5%.
UE continues on the road on Wednesday evening with a trip to preseason conference favorite Wichita State. The Aces and Shockers will face off at 7 p.m. on Jan. 6 on ESPN3.
