Game Notes: Wichita State (PDF) | Evansville (PDF) | MVC Weekly Notes (PDF)

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EVANSVILLE (13-2, 2-0 MVC) at WICHITA STATE (8-5, 2-0 MVC)
Jan. 6, 2016  | 7:00 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan./Charles Koch Arena

Telecast --
On Air: Cox Channel Kansas
Time Warner SportsChannel (available to TWC subscribers in Kansas City area)
Streaming: ESPN3* (Link)
Announcers: Bruce Haertl & Bob Hull
* - Subject to blackout throughout Kansas and in the Kansas City Metro area

Radio --
On Air: KEYN 103.7 FM
Online: goshockers.com/watch
Announcers: Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl

Social Media ---
Twitter: @GoShockers, @GoShockersLive
Facebook: facebook.com/WichitaStateUniversityAthletics
Instagram: instagram.com/goshockers
Exposure: goshockers.exposure.co
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Winners of six of its last seven games, Wichita State (8-5, 2-0 MVC) welcomes Evansville (13-2, 2-0) to town, Wednesday evening for a 7 p.m. CT tip on Cox Channel Kansas.
• The Shockers have a chance for an early leg up in the Valley race this week, with two of the other three MVC unbeatens on the schedule. WSU heads to Carbondale on Saturday to take on Southern Illinois (13-2, 2-0).
• Wednesday night's contest is a showdown between the top-two teams in the MVC's October preseason poll. WSU is favored to win its third-straight regular season title, and UE is picked second.
• VanVleet's Dec. 5 return from injury sparked a resurgence from the WSU defense. In the seven games since VanVleet rejoined the lineup, WSU is allowing just 58.1 points, and opponents have more turnovers (132) than field goals (127).
• An underrated rebounder, VanVleet will go down as one of the MVC's all-time most versatile point guards. He needs just 10 more rebounds to become only the second player in Valley history with 1,000-points, 400-rebounds and 500-assists (joining former Indiana State star Jake Odum. Van Vleet enters the night with 1,167 points, 390 boards and 506 assists.
• The Shockers are looking to extend the nation's third-longest home winning streak (currently 38 games). Evansville is the last visitor to leave Charles Koch Arena with a win, defeating WSU 59-56 in the 2012-13 home finale. Since then, WSU has also tallied 19-straight home MVC wins.
• After failing to shoot better than 50 percent from the field in any of its first 10 games, WSU has made at least half of its shots in two of the last three (Last 3 GP: 73/150, .487), raising its season percentage from .398 to .416.
 
HIGH-FIVE
• The game will feature some star power. For the first time ever, four returning All-MVC first-teamers will share the floor (WSU's Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet with Evansville's D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius). They're joined by a fifth all-conference performer in Anton Grady (WSU), who was First Team All-Horizon League at Cleveland State.
• That quintet also makes up five of the top six on the MVC's active career scoring list, led by Balentine, the only active player in the NCAA (all levels) with more than 2,000 career points.
 
MVC Active Scoring Leaders
2,089 --  D.J. Balentine, UE
1,625 – Anthony Beane, SIU
1,341 – Ron Baker, WSU
1,246 – Egidijus Mockevicius, UE
1,243 – Anton Grady, WSU
1,167 – Fred VanVleet, WSU
1,026 – Devon Turk, Loyola
1,008 – Khristian Smith, INS
 
SCOUTING THE ACES
• Evansville finished 24-12 last year and captured the CIT title with wins over IPFW, Eastern Illinois, Louisiana-Lafayette, UT-Martin and Northern Arizona. With almost the entire cast returning, they were picked second in the MVC preseason poll.
• Evansville's Mockevicius leads the nation in rebounds (14.4) and double-doubles (13). He earned the MVC Player of the Week Award on Monday for the fourth time this year, after recording his 1,000th-career rebound Saturday during a monster 21-point, 21-rebound effort again Missouri State.
• Balentine (2,089 career points) is third on Evansville's all-time scoring list and needs just 191 more to break the record.
• The Aces also bring the MVC's top scoring attack to town (81.0 ppg). WSU, by contrast, leads the conference in scoring defense (63.2).
• WSU held Evansville to an average of 42.0 points on 30.6 percent shooting in two meetings last year. In those games, the Aces were a combined 3-of-20 (.150) from three-point range. The Shockers limited Balentine to 24 total points on 27 shots (8/27 FG, 1/6 3pt).
• WSU ranks fifth nationally in turnover margin (+6.00) and 18th in turnovers forced (17.00) after forcing 23 against Bradley Sunday, while Evansville leads the nation in assists and has the Valley's top assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
SERIES NOTES
• This is the 44th meeting between WSU and Evansville in a series that dates back to 1994. The Shockers lead 27-16 with five-straight wins.
• The Shockers have captured 10 of the last 12 overall in the series, with a three-game sweep in 2013-14 during the undefeated run and a two-game sweep in 2014-15.
• WSU defended Evansville well in 2014-15, holding the Aces to their two lowest points totals of the season (41 and 43). Evansville scored 52-or-more points against every other opponent.
• WSU has won 13 of the last 14 in Wichita and 16-of-21 total. Evansville is 1-11 in Wichita since the renovation and rededication of Charles Koch Arena in the Fall of 2003.
 
UP NEXT:
Saturday afternoon, WSU travels to face Southern Illinois (13-2, 2-0 MVC) in a 3 p.m. CT tip on CBS Sports Network. SIU - picked ninth out of 10 teams in the MVC preseason poll - has been one of the league's biggest surprises. The Salukis knocked off Northern Iowa last Saturday, behind 32 points from MVC Co-Player of the Week Anthony Beane, to improve 7-1 at SIU Arena...The Salukis' 13 wins is one more than they posted all of last season with still 16 games to play.