Aces Face Road Test At Wichita State On Wednesday
Game will be televised on ESPN3
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Riding a 6-game win streak, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will face off against Wichita State on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in a game that will be carried live on ESPN3.
A 20-0 second-half run saw the Purple Aces pull away to take a 76-59 win at Missouri State on Saturday to improve to 2-0 in conference action. Egidijus Mockevicius tied his career mark with 21 rebounds and stands at 1,000 for his career, just the third in UE history and 15th in the MVC record books to do so. D.J. Balentine scored 19 points while Adam Wing hit 6 of his 7 attempts to tally 15. Following the trip to Wichita, Evansville will have three of its next four games at home beginning with a 3 p.m. game versus Bradley on Saturday.
An unbelievable start to MVC play saw Mockevicius average 21.5 points and an 18.5 rebounds per game to lead the Purple Aces to a 2-0 start to its Valley season. In the opener against Indiana State, Mockevicius drained 7 of his 10 shots on his way to 22 points. He also grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked four Sycamore shots. He followed that up with 21 points and 21 rebounds at Missouri State as he hit 1,000 for his career.
Fellow senior D.J. Balentine enters Wednesday’s tilt averaging 21.5 points per game, second in the conference. Accurate shooting has also helped the Kokomo, Ind. product – over the last 9 games, Balentine has hit 44% of his shots or better, overall, he has drained 52.2% of his attempts over that span.
Adam Wing had a stellar outing at Missouri State, knocking down six of his seven attempts on his way to 15 points. He has been shooting lights out this season and is fourth in the conference, hitting 56.8% of his shots. Over the last 12 games, Wing is 38-of-61 from the field.
Preseason MVC favorite Wichita State enters Wednesday’s tilt with an 8-5 mark after defeating Bradley by a final of 85-58. After starting the season at 2-4, the Shockers have won six of their last seven games, including wins over Utah, Nevada and UNLV. The top scorer for WSU is Ron Baker, checking in at 15.1 points per game while Fred VanVleet is next up at 11.9. VanVleet is shooting a team-best 43.8% from outside. Anton Grady is the top rebounder on the squad with 5.4 per game; his efforts have helped the Shockers outrebound the opposition by 2.7 per game.
