Can the Aces Challenge the Shockers?

(St. Louis, MO) – Evansville was picked to finish second to Wichita State in the Missouri Valley Conference’s pre-season poll. Now that the Purple Aces are off to a 13-2 start it’s time to wonder, if they’re truly the top team to challenge Shocker supremacy.

While the Aces are flying high right now, are there potential troubles ahead? Can Marty Simmons’ team keep this momentum going? Are they a ‘two player team’ or do they have the depth to fight for the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference?

Two Stars

All off-season we heard about the one-two punch in Wichita with Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker, but the top Aces, D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius are not too shabby. They are two of the top three scorers in the MVC and Mockevicius leads the entire nation in rebounding and double-doubles, and he leads the Valley in blocked shots, while Balentine leads the scoring parade and is second in assists. They are headed for an unprecedented third straight year of teammates sharing the scoring and rebounding titles in the 109 year league.

Can they sustain such excellence against the superior coaching and scouting in the MVC? Who can come through for them if teams can hold down one or both of the super-stars?

Crunching the Numbers

Evansville is winning their games by 12.5 points and lead the MVC in scoring putting up over 81 points per game and they are the only Valley team shooting better than 50 % from the field (.523). Why are they so efficient offensively? Sure Balentine and Mockevicius are a potent top end attack, but the Aces are handing out over 21 assists per night, as they have learned to run Simmons’ motion offense to perfection.

Enjoying Their Roles

This senior laden team knows their collective and individual roles.

Blake Simmons (the coach’s son) does all the needed dirty work (think Evan Wessell wearing a purple uniform). He can score and do the flashy things if you need them done, but he goes and gets the tough rebound, dives on loose balls and plays with poise. Jaylon Brown (10.5 ppg) is emerging as a reliable third scorer and Mislav Brzoja doesn’t even start, but he’s fourth in scoring, second in assists and third in rebounding. By-the-way, he makes 80% of his free throws.

Led by Mockevicius’ blocks the Aces lead the league in that department too.

The two biggest question marks about Simmons’ team are about their schedule and their depth. Their SOS isn’t very good even though they’ve defeated the two best Ohio Valley teams (Belmont and Murray State). They’ve really only played six players with any regularity. That could come back to haunt them.

Depth Answers

The upside to the depth question is that Duane Gibson is getting healthier and should return to the line-up. Great things were expected of junior college transfer Willie Wiley and incoming freshman Harris Brown. Wiley has missed half the games and Brown hasn’t been effective. If any or all of those players begin to contribute, this team may not be stoppable by any Valley team east of Wichita.

Evansville’s experience winning the College Insider.com Tournament last season was invaluable and the returning Aces seem better for the experience. This could be the year Marty Simmons and the Purple Aces of Evansville go NCAA dancing.

CIT Experience

As someone that watched the Aces win the final three games of their CIT championship run, I’m convinced this is a battle-tested team with the necessary grit, wisdom and trust to succeed. They truly trust one another and Marty’s system. This Evansville team will contend for the MVC title.

Can they go toe-to-toe with the ‘playing angry’ Wichita State Shockers? That is the major question for Simmons’ team. Getting over the psychological hump of slaying the dragon isn’t always easy. The Shockers will throw waves of post players at Mockevicius to wear him down and to draw him into foul trouble.

VanVleet, Baker and Zach Brown defend perimeter players like Balentine like no one else in the Valley. The two head-to-head battles between these teams will be worth the scalping price that will surely be demanded outside Ford Center or Koch Arena.

The Aces should win 12 or more Valley games which means they’ll be near the 25 win mark before Arch Madness hits St. Louis. A third battle with the Shockers on that fabled Sunday in the Gateway City could be for all the MVC marbles and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Round One is Wednesday night in Wichita. Stay tuned!

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