Game Notes & Preview: Providence (4-0) vs. Evansville (3-0) 11/26/15

Where: Titan Gym – Fullerton, CA

When: 9:00PM EST

How: ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein & Sean Farnham)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

• Providence is 1-0 all time against Evansville. The Friars won that game, 98-71, on December 11, 1975.
• Providence is 5-8 all time against the Missouri Valley conference. The latest game against a team from that conference was November 26, 2011 when Providence were defeated by Northern Iowa, 79-62.
• Evansville is 3-0 on the season. The Purple Aces beat Southeast Missouri State, NAIA Marian and won a tight game against Belmont. The Purple Aces are led in scoring by seniors DJ Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius who are both averaging 21.3 points/game. Mockevicius also leads the team in rebounding at 13.0 rebounds/game.
• Kris Dunn nearly posted a triple-double against NJIT in Providence’s last game on Monday night. Dunn led the team with 22 points and added 10 rebounds, 9 assists and 7 steals in the win. The double-double was Dunn’s second this season and 10th of his career. Rodney Bullock also had a double-double for the second straight game with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Ben Bentil chipped in 21 points.
• Opening Line: Providence -2.5

Game Preview

Providence heads West to play in the Wooden Legacy Tournament over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The Friars will play a total of 3 games with the first two being played on Cal State Fullerton’s campus and the final game on Sunday at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Providence’s opening round opponent is the Evansville Purple Aces. Evansville hails from the Missouri Valley Conference and was picked to finish second in the league this year behind Wichita State and ahead of the Northern Iowa team that just knocked off North Carolina. The Purple Aces are coached by Marty Simmons and return a veteran club that won 24 games and took the CIT title a season ago. Nine players return from that team, including all five starters.

DJ Balentine is Evansville’s leader and is a very good scoring guard. He has scored over 1,800 points in his career and is on pace to finish with around 2,400 points. He is the active leading scorer in the college basketball, regardless of division. In addition to Balentine, Evansville has a very productive and experienced big man in 6’10 Egidijus Mockevicius. The senior from Lithuania has played in 105 games in his career is off to a hot start averaging 21.3 points/game and 13.0 rebounds/game so far this season. Evansville has 7’1 Sergej Vucetic on their bench but the Nebraska transfer saw his only action — 7 minutes at that — during Evansville’s game against NAIA Marian. They also have 6’8 David Howard who has played 19 minutes in 3 games this season. After those three there isn’t much size on the Purple Aces’ roster.

The probable starters according to the game notes are:

Providence

• Kris Dunn – #3 – Junior
• Junior Lomomba – #32 – Junior
• Ryan Fazekas – #35 – Freshman
• Rodney Bullock – #5 – Sophomore
• Ben Bentil – #0 – Sophomore

Evansville

• Jaylon Brown – #3 – Junior
• DJ Balentine – #31 – Junior
• Adam Wing – #12 – Junior
• Blake Simmons – #50 – Junior
• Egidijus Mockevicius – #55 – Senior

The key to victory for Providence will be limiting Balentine from having an explosive scoring game. Mockevicius is a wide body down low and I think Cooley will go to Quadree Smith for stretches like he did against Mike Thorne, Jr. when the Friars played Illinois. Evansville is good at getting to the free throw line and they cash in on those trips at a high rate. They are scoring 30.6% of their points from the charity stripe.  Providence will likely mix man and zone and I think you’ll see Junior Lomomba start the night on Balentine with Kris Dunn hawking Jaylon Brown. Evansville doesn’t force a ton of turnovers so I expect Providence to win the turnover battle and I do think the Friars can score inside. Dunn will be able to get into the lane against man-to-man defense at will and shooters need to be ready for kickouts and dishes from Dunn.

Prediction: Providence 79 Evansville 76

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Mike Hopkins

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