GAME NOTES: The second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament continues on Monday night with a matchup between the Evansville Purple Aces and the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Lantz Arena.

Evansville recently hit the 20-win mark after claiming an 82-77 win over visiting IPFW last Wednesday in the opening round of this event. It is only the second time since 1999 EU has reached 20 wins in a season. The Aces are hoping for another successful run in the CIT, this being their third appearance, after winning three games before bowing out in the semifinals in 2013

Eastern Illinois picked up its first-ever Division I postseason tournament win last Tuesday by posting a 97-91 triumph at Oakland. As a result, the Panthers' record on the season improved to 18-14, and they have won two of their last three and three of their last five games heading into Monday's tussle.

The winner of this bout moves on to the quarterfinals to be played later this week.

Eastern Illinois owns an 11-8 lead in the all-time series with Evansville, although the last meeting went to the Purple Aces at home in an 80-76 final on Dec. 10, 2008.

D.J. Balentine scored a season-high 35 points to lead Evansville to last week's tournament-opening win over IPFW. Balentine tallied 23 points in the first half alone, as he hit his first nine shots on the way to a 12-of-18 performance, which included a 6-of-9 showing from 3-point range. Egidiju Mockevicius logged a double-double consisting of 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Purple Aces, who shot an even 50 percent from the floor, their percentage from distance being even greater (.533). IPFW had four players finish in double figures, but the team was beaten on the glass, 39-30.

Balentine is the Missouri Valley Conference scoring champ for 2014-15, as he nets 19.4 ppg, while Mockevicius turns in 12.2 ppg to go with his MVC-best 9.8 rpg. Evansville ranks first in the league in assists (15.6 apg), and second in scoring offense (69.7 ppg), field goal percentage (.479), free throw percentage (.745) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2).

Eastern Illinois' strength this season has been its ability to play solid defense, but you couldn't tell that last week as Oakland shot nearly 46 percent from the floor, draining 10 treys in the process, in putting up 91 points -- well above the 64.2 ppg the Panthers allow to rank second in the Ohio Valley Conference. Offensively, the Panthers far exceeded their average scoring output (63.4 ppg) as well, producing 97 points thanks to 55 percent field goal efficiency, which included a 15-of-31 effort beyond the arc, and a 16-of-17 performance at the charity stripe.

Reggie Smith hit for 26 points, Trae Anderson 19 and Dylan Chatman 17 in the victory. Cornell Johnston dished out 11 assists, EIU tallying 21 helpers in the contest. For the season, Anderson leads the team with 13.3 ppg, while Johnston has 151 assists and is the team's top 3-point shooter (.525). Overall, EIU is being outscored (-0.7) and outrebounded (-5.2) on average.

The Panthers have the obvious advantage playing this game at home, but the Purple Aces, with Balentine and Mockevicius leading the way, are the better all-around team.