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GAME NOTES: The bottom two teams in the Missouri Valley Conference get together in Carbondale this afternoon, as the Southern Illinois Salukis welcome the Evansville Purple Aces to SIU Arena.

All alone in last place in the MVC standings, Evansville has won only one of 14 league games thus far. Even worse, the team has an overall mark of 1-9 on the road this season, which doesn't bode well for them today in Carbondale. However, the Aces did stun Wichita State on Tuesday night at home with a 65-62 victory, snapping what had become a 14-game slide dating back to the week before Christmas.

As for the Salukis, they've been bounced in two straight outings and four of the last five overall en route to a 5-9 conference mark. The squad last took the floor on Wednesday night and was dealt a 77-72 setback by Missouri State on the road.

The Salukis have beaten Evansville eight straight times at SIU Arena and own an all-time series advantage of 62-47 entering the weekend. The first meeting of the season went in favor of SIU on the road, 65-57, last month.

Before fouling out, James Haarsma posted 18 points and seven rebounds to help provide the Purple Aces with the effort they needed to knock off Wichita State at Roberts Stadium. Denver Holmes tacked on 17 points, shooting 6-of-10 from the floor, but also hurt the squad with his seven turnovers. The team, which shot an even 50 percent from the field, finished with an unsightly 19 miscues, as did the Shockers. Ryan Colt is listed as the leading scorer for this team overall this season with his 15.3 ppg, followed by Haarsma and Holmes with 11.4 and 10.8 ppg, respectively. When it comes to league play, Evansville is putting up a mere 60.8 ppg this year, compared to 72.2 ppg for the competition. Colt leads in those MVC meetings with his 15.1 ppg, but he is actually shooting a mere 36.5 percent from the floor, which is close to his 35.9 percent accuracy behind the three-point line.

The Salukis shot a staggering 59.6 percent from the field and converted 6- of-10 behind the three-point line against Missouri State earlier this week, but still that wasn't enough as the visitors fell by five points. Except for Tony Freeman who finished with eight points, every starter for SIU hit for double figures, beginning with Justin Bocot who tallied 14 before fouling out. Carlton Fay dropped in 12 points, Gene Teague and Kevin Dillard 11 apiece as the team hurt itself with just 10-of-17 shooting at the free-throw line. Dillard leads the team in scoring overall this season with his 13.0 ppg, having made 90-of-114 at the free-throw line and keeping his teammates involved with 130 assists, but in conference play he drops to 10.9 ppg and trails Freeman who is putting up 12.6 ppg on the strength of his 43.8 percent effort beyond the arc.

Evansville has been dismal on the road this season and there's little reason to think that will change this weekend, even though the team is coming off its first win in a couple of months.