Evansville beats Illinois State 66-55
NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — D.J. Balentine scored 25 points — his 11th game of 20 or more this season — and Egidijus Mockevicius collared 20 rebounds to surpass the legendary Jerry Sloan on the school's all-time list as Evansville defeated Illinois State 66-55 Friday night.
Balentine shot 7 of 17 from the floor and was a perfect 10-for-10 at the foul line. Mockevicius added 13 points, Adam Wing 11 and Jaylon Brown 10 as the Purple Aces (16-3, 5-1 Missouri Valley) shot 50-percent (22-44).
Mockevicius, a 6-foot-10 senior from Vilnius, Lithuania, tied Sloan for second place on the school's all-time list with his 17th rebound of the game, and went on to grab three more. Sloan, a legendary NBA player and coach, collected 1,053 rebounds between 1963-65.
Illinois State (9-10, 3-3) was led by 12 points each from De'Vaughn Akoon-Purcell and Paris Lee. The Redbirds shot 31 percent (23 of 75) despite grabbing 20 offensive rebounds.