Balentine scores 24; Evansville beats Drake 84-65

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) D.J. Balentine scored 24, and Egidijus Mockevicius added 21 points, on 9-of-12 shooting, with 12 rebounds to help Evansville beat Drake 84-65 Tuesday night.

Mockevicius has 14 double-doubles in 18 games this season, tied for third most in Division I.

Mislav Brzoja added 15 points and Jaylon Brown scored 11 for Evansville (15-3, 4-1 Missouri Valley Conference).

The Purple Aces scored 11 in a row to open up a 25-13 lead with 6:31 left in the first half and used an 11-2 run to go into the break leading 38-22.

Drake (5-12, 0-5) trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

Reed Timmer scored 19, on 6-of-9 shooting, while Jacob Enevold and Billy Wampler scored 14 apiece for the Bulldogs, who have lost five games in a row and nine of their last 10.

Evansville made 32 of 60 (53 percent) field goal attempts and never trailed.