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For more on the Fighting Irish, read SBNation's Rakes of Mallow
Indiana State’s run through the Missouri Valley Conference hit another snag Wednesday night when the Evansville Purple Aces knoked off the Sycamores 66-63. That victory gives the Purple Aces a season sweep of teh Trees, and dealt a serious blow to Indiana State’s Missouri Valley title hopes.
Jordan Jahr was a force for Evansville,s coring 16 points and 14 rebounds as Evansville came back from a 17-point deficit on the road. Those totals are season highs for the 6’6" freshman from Austin Texas, who came in averaging only 4.2 points 2.6 rebounds per game. Denver Holmes added 15 for Evansville.
Indiana State held a 17-point lead in both games agaisnt Evansville this year, but was unable to hold it each time. The Trees have now lost two straight after leading the Valley and are two games behind Missouri State.
Last week was a solid week for Indiana's non-Big Ten teams. Ball State opened up a two game lead in the MAC West Division. Valparaiso remained in first place despite a 63-61 home loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay on Sunday. Indiana State also stayed in contention in the Missouri Valley Conference. All of these teams face tough competition this week as they battle for conference titles.
Monday:
Notre Dame (16-4, 5-3) at Pittsburgh (19-1, 7-0 Big East)
The marquee matchup of the week comes tonight when Notre Dame travels to first place Pittsburgh for a huge Big East game. The panther will likely be #2 in the rankings when the new polls come out today. The Panthers lead the country in rebounding and assists per game. 6'10" Gary McGhee from Anderson is averaging 7 points and 8.1 rebounds for Pittsburgh as well. The Fighting Irish continue to be a team that is dominant at home, but struggles on the road. Their 5-3 record in Big East play is an even split, as they have won five home games, but lost three road games.
Morehead State (12-8) at Ball State (13-4)
Ball State steps out of conference tonight to host Morehead State from the Ohio Valley Conference. The Cardinals have been on a roll of late, winning seven straight contests. They are also unbeaten at Worthen Arena this season. Jarrod Jones continues to be one of the MAC's best players at nearly 16 points and nine rebounds per game.
Wednesday
West Virginia (13-5, 4-2) at Louisville (15-4, 4-2)
With no games off in the Big East, both the Mountaineers and Cardinals will be looking to take this critical game. West Virginia has been up and down in recent week, beating Purdue but losing to Marshall. Louisville's Saturday loss at Providence severely hurt the Cardinals' chances in Big East play. After playing West Virginia, Louisville must make a difficult run of five games against four ranked teams. Preston Knowles must get back on track after scoring only two points against the Friars.
Evansville (10-9, 4-5) at Indiana State (12-8, 7-2)
The Sycamores are coming off of an epic triple-overtime game in which they fell at Wichita State. They now sit a game back of first place Missouri State, and they have a chance to avenge their first loss of the MVC season when they host the Purple Aces Wednesday night. ISU's Carl Richard has been on fire of late with five straight games in double figures. For the Trees to continue their surprising run they must take this game at home.
Thursday
Kent State at Ball State
This will be a battle of division leaders in the MAC. Ball State currently has a two game lead over everyone in the conference at 5-0 in league play. Kent State is one of four teams in the East Division tied for first at 3-2. As always, the MAC is one of the most up-for-grabs conferences in the nation, with only one likely NCAA bid going to the winner of their free-for-all tournament. Ball State can at least take a step towards the #1 seed with a win here.
Centenary (0-21, 0-9) at IPFW (12-7, 6-3)
The nation's smallest Division I program travels to Ft. Wayne for the final time. Centenary, with an enrollment of just 887 students, would be a 3A basketball school if it played at the Indiana High School level. They will be moving down to Division III at the end of the season. The final go-round for the Gentlemen has not been kind. They are the lone winless team in major college basketball, and the Mastodons already own a 32 point victory at Centenary earlier this year. IPFW's loss at South Dakota State yesterday put them three games out of first place with Oakland running away with the Summit League.
College Basketball: Ball State Falls At Home To Ohio U. 61-60
Muncie, IN (Sports Network) – De Washington posted 16 points and the Ohio University Bobcats knocked off the Ball State Cardinals, 61-60, in Mid- American Conference action at Worthen Arena.
Nick Kellogg netted 11 points for the Bobcats (10-11, 3-4 MAC), who won their second straight, and Tommy Freeman got involved with 10 points.
Jarrod Jones led the way for BSU (13-7, 5-2) with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds. Randy Davis added 11 points and six assists, as the Cardinals suffered their third straight defeat.
The Bobcats held an 11-3 edge on the offensive glass, helping them to 12 second-chance points and a 33-26 lead at the intermission.
The second half remained tight, but Ohio was able to prevail with the one- point victory behind 4-of-9 shooting from long range and 8-of-9 at the foul line.
Ohio finished the game 19-of-21 at the foul line, while BSU went just 8-of-16 from the stripe.
Jan 29 5:51p by Matt Grecco - 0 comments