EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Host Evansville got 22 points from First Team All-Valley guard D.J. Balentine and shot 57 percent from the floor collectively as the Purple Aces coasted to an 89-62 win over IUPUI inside Ford Center on Saturday night (Dec. 6). Redshirt freshman Leo Svete finished with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting in the loss and junior Mason Archie, II added 11 in the defeat. 

The loss was IUPUI's (2-5) third straight while Evansville (6-1), ranked No. 15 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25, won for the sixth time in seven games to start the year and improved to 3-0 all-time against the Jaguars. 

IUPUI led 9-8 in the early going when P.J. Boutte dropped in a tough layup, but the Jaguars' offense dried up from there, largely due to turnovers. The Purple Aces ripped off a 19-0 run over the game's next five-plus minutes before Archie snapped the spurt with a transition basket. Evansville started the run with two Jaylon Brown layups sandwiched around a Jaylon Moore layup, forcing Head Coach Jason Gardner to call timeout.

After the timeout, three more IUPUI miscues led to six more Evansville points before Balentine capped a wild possession with an open wing three after an initial shot was swatted by Justus Stanback. Evansville closed the half with a 40-16 lead, capped by back-to-back Adam Wing baskets before the break.

"Turnovers really cost us tonight. It took possessions away from us and led to their easy baskets," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "It wasn't just one or two guys either. They defended us well on the perimeter, but we still should've been able to do a better job of getting into our offense and getting looks. I thought we played tentative instead of attacking them.

"They're a good offensive team, but we gave them far too many easy shots with our turnovers."

Down 24 at the half, IUPUI never really challenged after intermission. 

The Jaguars closed within 58-39 on a DavRon Williams layup with 10:38 to play, but Balentine answered back with an easy left-handed layup that became a three-point play. IUPUI shot 54 percent from the field in the second half, but never closed the gap as Evansville shot 59 percent after halftime. 

Little used sub David Howard came off the UE bench to score a career-high 16 second half points, including hitting 8-of-11 free throws. Mislav Brzoja added 10 points, three boards and three assists and Egidijus Mockevicius just missed a double-double with nine points, 10 boards and four blocked shots. 

Svete went 4-of-8 from downtown for his career-high 17 while Archie finished 5-of-8 from the floor for his third career double-digit scoring game. Boutte and Williams both finished with eight points and Elijah Ray grabbed six boards before fouling out. IUPUI finished with 19 turnovers, 15 of which came in the sloppy first half. Evansville ultimately turned the 19 IUPUI turnovers into 23 points. 

The loss dropped the Jaguars to 0-3 against the Valley this season, along with losses to Drake and Indiana State. 

IUPUI will return to action on Tuesday night when they face Xavier inside the Cintas Center at 7:00 p.m. in Cincinnati, Ohio. Live coverage will begin on WNDE 1260 AM right at 7:00 p.m. as Will Flemming (pxp) calls the action from courtside.