Aces ready for Wooden Legacy

Evansville to open tournament on Thursday versus Providence

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – One of the most competitive in-season tournaments that the Purple Aces have ever taken part in is coming up as the University of Evansville travels to the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, Calif.

 

Evansville opens the tournament on Thursday evening against Providence while other teams in the event include: Boise State, Boston College, UC Irvine, Santa Clara, Arizona and Michigan State.  Thursday’s game will begin at 8 p.m. CT and will be televised live on ESPNU and you can also watch live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app.

 

A 93-88 win over Belmont gave the Purple Aces another 3-0 start to the season.  In the win over the Bruins, the Aces led for most of the game, going up by as many as 13 points before Belmont rallied back.  D.J. Balentine led the way with 27 points while Egidijus Mockevicius made it 3-for-3 with his third double-double of the season, registering 26 points and 14 boards.

 

Egidijus Mockevicius recorded his 30th double-double in his last 47 games as he went off for 26 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Belmont.  Mockevicius is the ONLY player in the country to 20 points and 12 rebounds.  His 26 points coupled with 20 against Marian marked the first time in his career that he has recorded back-to-back 20-point outings.

 

A 12-of-21 effort from the floor against Belmont saw D.J. Balentine improve his shooting from 33.3% entering the game to 43.8% afterwards.  D.J.’s 12 makes tied his career-high, which he did against IPFW in the CIT opener in March.  His efforts saw him finish with 27 points to move into a tie for second place in the MVC with 21.3 points per game, he is tied with Mockevicius.

 

For the first time in his career, Jaylon Brown has recorded back-to-back double figure games, recording 13 against Marian and Belmont.  His hot shooting has been evident in the last two games as he was 5-of-7 in both contests.  He has given UE solid minutes and is averaging 31.3 per game.

 

Providence heads to Anaheim with a perfect 4-0 record in tact.  The Friars opened up the season with a solid 76-64 win over Harvard before edging out Illinois, 60-59, in the Gavitt Tipoff; Providence has also defeated Brown and NJIT.  Preseason All-American Kris Dunn leads the way for the Friars as he has notched 18.8 points per game while posting 21 steals and 7.8 rebounds per game.  Teammate Rodney Bullock is right there with him on the scorebaord, tying Dunn with 18.8 PPG; Bullock has shot 54.7% on the season and leads the squad with 8.5 rebounds per game.  The 1-2-3 punch continues with Ben Bentil, who has notched 13 points and 8 rebounds per contest through the first four games.