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GAME NOTES: Still in search of their first Missouri Valley Conference victory of the season, the Evansville Purple Aces will square off with the visiting Bradley Braves today at Roberts Stadium.

Bradley enters this tilt hoping to build off Tuesday night's 67-65 triumph over Drake. The Braves had lost their previous two games, and the victory evened their record at 6-6 in league play. Following this contest, they'll try to make up some ground with four of their next five games coming at home.

Evansville has sunk to the bottom of the MVC standings with 13 straight losses entering this matchup. On Wednesday night, the Aces fell to Creighton by an 84-71 final. Although it seems like ages ago, it's worth noting that five of the team's six wins this season have come at Roberts Stadium.

Bradley has won 10 of the last 12 meetings with Evansville to take a 21-14 series lead. These teams met two weeks ago on Bradley's home floor, and the Braves came away with a 74-64 victory.

Sophomore center Will Egolf was the hero for Bradley earlier this week, as he scored the team's final two buckets, including the game-winner on a put-back with 1.8 seconds to play. While Egolf sealed the win for Bradley, it was guard Sam Maniscalco who carried the team most of the night. He shot 9-of-14 from the floor and led all scorers with 21 points to go along with six assists. Taylor Brown chipped in with 14 points and eight rebounds to help the Braves avoid losing a game they led most of the way. On the season, the team is led by the guard tandem of Maniscalco (12.2 ppg) and Andrew Warren (14.2 ppg). Those two have combined to knock down 82 three-pointers on the year, while Brown has taken care of business down low with 13.4 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds per outing. The Braves are averaging only 66.7 points per game, but they've gotten by with solid defense, holding opponents to 41.9 percent shooting from the floor

Leading the way for Evansville is guard Colt Ryan, who averages 15.5 ppg and is the only Evansville player to have started every game this season. He is complemented by James Haarsma (11.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and Denver Holmes (10.9 ppg), but the Purple Aces don't have a whole lot of scoring options beyond that. Bryan Bouchie (8.0 ppg) left the team a month ago after coming off the bench for the first 12 games. That leaves Ned Cox as the fourth-leading scorer, though he checks in with only 6.4 ppg on 37.7 percent shooting from the floor. Evansville didn't play a whole lot of defense on Wednesday night in Omaha, as Creighton shot a sizzling 66.7 percent from the floor and knocked down 10-of-18 three-point tries. Ryan had a stellar game in the loss, connecting on 5-of-9 treys en route to a game-high 31 points. Cox added 12 points off the bench, while Clint Hopf rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.

Even with a monster game like he had on Wednesday night, Ryan needs more help from his supporting cast if Evansville is to crack into the win column. The Braves are right in the thick of the MVC standings, and they'll make every effort to limit Ryan's touches.