SIU-Edwardsville (0-2) @ Evansville (1-0)
Roberts Stadium,
Evansville, Indiana 7:05 CST
Last season the Purple Aces cruised to an 89-58 win over the Cougars in Evansville. A lot has changed for the Purple Aces since then. They lost three quality seniors and an up-and-coming freshman. It wasn’t one of those four that had the big night last year. Center Pieter van Tongeren scored 17 to go along with 12 rebounds. He’ll need another big night for Coach Marty Simmons as he takes on a school he coached for five season (’02-03 to ’06-’07). The newcomers will get another game to get their feet wet.
After a pair of tough intrastate games, the Cougars hop the border to Indiana. The Cougars went to Illinois and lost by 27. They hosted Illinois State and lost by 22. A trio of players for the Cougars are all averaging double figures early in the season.
Will they have the depth to hang with a Division I team? Will Evansville’s veterans be enough to overcome some of the newcomers’ struggles?
– Panon
Arkansas-Monticello (1-0) @ Wichita State (1-0)
Wichita, KS
CBE Classic
7:05 pm
The Shockers will continue their home stand of the CDE Classic as the host the Boll Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello. The Boll Weevils are coming off a victory over Crowley’s Ridge College, 94-65, lead by a great performance from DeAngelo McIntosh who finished the season opener with an impressive 25 points and 13 rebounds. But will that be enough to take out an up and coming Shocker team.
No. This will be the final tune up for the Shockers before their showdown with Pittsburgh. Although the are still without the assistance of Celvin Hannah and Taylor Gilmore, who are still serving their 3 and 6 regular-season game suspensions, respectively, the Shockers will still have plenty of fire power for the outmatched Boll Weevils. My only concern with the WSU is will they get caught looking ahead?
-Paul Liberty
