The Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals take place on Friday afternoon and we will see the Evansville Purple Aces take on the Wichita State Shockers at the Scottrade Center in St Louis, Missouri. The game has a start time of 1:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 3. Vegas odds have the Shockers listed as 17.5 point favorites, while the total has yet to be set.
Analysis: Evansville got to this game by taking out the Drake Bulldogs in the first round. That win gave Evansville, who is just 14-18 on the year, a 3 game win, with two of those wins coming over Drake. The Purple Aces average just 69.8 ppg on the year, which is 219th in the nation. They do shoot the ball well, however, as they hit 46.7% of their shots to rank 63rd in the nation. The are led by D.J Ballentine, who is one of the better scorers in the nation, averaging a solid 22.5 ppg. He doesn't get allot of help as Egidijus Mockevicius is second on the team in scoring at 10.5 ppg,while Blake Simmons is 3rd at 9.5 ppg. The defense has been a big problem for this team the year, as they have allowed 72 ppg (234th) on 44.5% shooting (224th).
Wichita State went a perfect 31-0 this year and earned the top seed in the MVC tournament. Wichita State faced the Purple Aces twice this year and beat them by 14 in the first meeting at home and by 16 in the 2nd meeting at Evansville. The sweep gave the Shockers 7 wins in the last 9 meetings between these teams. The Shockers average a solid 75.4 ppg (69th) on 45.6% shooting (105th). Cleanthony Early (15.8 ppg) leads a group of 4 players that average in double figures for the Shockers, while also leading them in rebounding at 5.9 rpg). Ron Baker (13.1 ppg), Fred VanVleet (11.1 ppg) and Tekele Cotton (10.4 ppg) also average in double figures for the Shockers. Wichita State has a solid offense, but this team is really fueled by a defense that allows just 59.9 ppg (13th) on 39.4% shooting (20th).
Pick: Evansville plus the points is my play here. The Shockers won by just 14 and 16 points during the regular season and this one will be played on a neutral court. They are due for a clunker after finishing the year undefeated and while I don't expect them to lose this game outright I also don't expect them to win by more than 12 here.
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