Evansville (4-2) @ Western Kentucky (3-3)
E.A. Diddle Arena
Bowling Green, KY 7:05 PM CT – Fox Sports College Sports Central
Last season behind a veteran squad the Purple Aces defeated Western Kentucky by 32 at home. It won’t be as easy this season when the Purple Aces travel south to Kentucky. The Purple Aces come into this game winners of their past two. Last time out against Alabama State freshman Ryan Colt scored 17. Despite committing 25 turnovers they more than made up for it by outrebounding Alabama State 42-23. Rebounding like that will keep you in a lot of games.
The Hilltoppers are looking to get over the .500 mark here early in the season. They’ve played their share of close games. After losing by 4 to Wisconsin-Milwaukee and by 11 at LSU, they picked up a home win against Cal State Northridge. This will be the second Valley opponent for the Hilltoppers. The Sycamores survived in Bowling Green squeaking out a 1-point win. They bounced back and picked up a win on Sunday over Tulane. Senior guard A.J. Slaughter is the player to keep an eye on. Averaging over 16 points and nearly 3 rebounds and 3 assists. He scored 30 points against UW-Milwaukee and in the process pass the 1,000 point mark for his career.
– Panon
Iowa (3-5) @ Northern Iowa (5-1)
McLeod Center
Cedar Falls, IA 7:07 PM CT – KWWL-IA
Eglseder ready to take a bite out of the Hawks - Photo courtesy of UNIPanthers.com
The reigning Valley Player of the Week leads the Panthers against in-state rival Iowa. Easy decision by the league after his performance against Iowa State. Scoring 20 points and collecting 14 rebounds against an improving Iowa State team was enough to garner this week’s award. The Panthers casted their dark magic to combat the “Hilton Magic” while pulling out a 63-60 win in Ames. Another win tonight against Iowa and the Panthers will be win over Drake away from beating all the Division I basketball teams in the state. Along with that will be the mythical state trophy.
Iowa comes in winners of two out of their last three games after dropping four of their first give. They’ve taken their share of licks this season, one of those by Wichita State in the CBE Classic, a 74-57 Shocker win. The Panthers will need to wear down the Hawkeyes. They have three players averaging more than 30 minutes and all five of their starters averaging more than 26 minutes per game. Anthony Tucker leads the Hawks at 12 ppg. He’ll need a big game to keep the Hawks close in this I-380 match-up.
– Panon