GAME NOTES: Stuck on 19 wins for a month now, the Evansville Purple Aces will try once more for win No. 20 on Wednesday night when they host IPFW in first- round action of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at the Ford Center.

IPFW has also struggled of late with losses in three of its last four outings, including an 82-73 setback to South Dakota in the Summit League quarterfinals last Sunday. Prior to that stretch, the Mastodons had won seven straight, their longest win streak since 1992-93. Still, head coach Jon Coffman has guided the team to 16 wins this season, the most victories in program history for a first-year coach.

Meanwhile, Evansville enters the contest on a four-game slide, although two of those setbacks came against nationally-ranked foes Wichita State and Northern Iowa. The Purple Aces followed that up by losing at home in overtime to Illinois State in the regular-season finale, then falling again to those same Redbirds in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament last Friday.

These schools have never previously met on the hardwood.

Leading the way for IPFW is senior Steve Forbes, a First Team All-Summit League forward who shoots 57 percent from the field and averages 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds. Joe Edwards is a 51 percent shooter from the field and a 42 percent shooter from the perimeter (38-of-90), while Mo Evans (10.3 ppg) has knocked down a team-high 52 3-pointers (.331) on the season. Max Landis (9.2 ppg) was named to the league's All-Newcomer Team. In their loss to South Dakota in the Summit League Tournament, the Mastodons cut a 20-point second- half deficit all the way down to five with just over a minute remaining, but they were unable to come all the way back. Edwards had a team-high 16 points in the loss.

Evansville's D.J. Balentine continues to be a handful for opponents, as he led the MVC in scoring for the second straight season with 18.9 ppg. He joins the likes of Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson as one of 12 players since 1956 to lead the Valley in scoring in consecutive seasons. Down low, Egidijus Mockevicius once again led the conference in rebounding with 9.8 per game. He also shot 59.3 percent from the floor and averaged 12.1 ppg. That pair earned All-MVC First Team honors. In their latest contest against Illinois State, the Purple Aces shot just 29.6 percent from the floor in the second half after a 59 percent effort in the opening stanza, as they watched a six-point halftime lead evaporate over the final 20 minutes. Balentine had a game-high 17 points in defeat.

The Mastodons knocked off Akron in the first round of last season's CIT to advance to the second round, where they fell at VMI. Another second-round appearance may not be in the cards, however, unless they can rediscover the mojo that carried them through that seven-game win streak in February. Of course, Evansville also struggled down the stretch, although two of those losses came against elite competition.