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Creighton hit the road Monday packing a fresh dose of confidence. Saturday's 72-67 overtime win at Drake opened a stretch in which the Bluejays play three of four Missouri Valley Conference games away from home. The second comes tonight at 7:05, when Creighton visits Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Ind., to meet the struggling Purple Aces. Drake also was scuffling, coming into its meeting with Creighton having lost four in a row. But the Bulldogs twice took 15-point leads early in the second half before the Bluejays rallied to improve to 16-5 and remain tied for first place in the league with Northern Iowa and Wichita State at 10-3. "It was good to get this one done, and hopefully we can draw off of it," Creighton forward Dane Watts said. "We know all of these road games are going to be tough, and the thing I think we learned is that we have to come focused for the whole 40 minutes. "We definitely don't want to find ourselves in any more of these situations." Creighton has had its share of adventures on the road this season. The Bluejays are 4-5 away from home, losing four of the first five road games. They rebounded to post solid victories at Indiana State and Northern Iowa in mid-January but backed down when Southern Illinois turned up the defense in posting a 62-48 win on Jan. 24. "We just haven't had the consistency and the mental toughness each night out that you need when you play on the road," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "Road games are not easy. Things get going, the crowd gets into it. This is a game that is just not conducive for the road team to win." On the surface, tonight's game appears to be perhaps the least stressful of Creighton's final six down the stretch. Evansville is 6-15, having snapped an eight-game losing skid with Saturday's victory over Illinois State. The Purple Aces are tied with Indiana State for last place in the Valley at 2-11. But Altman's teams have left Roberts Stadium disappointed in two of their last three visits. In 2003, Creighton came into the game having just earned a top 10 rating but left a 74-66 loser in what ranks as the biggest win in coach Steve Merfeld's four seasons at Evansville. Last season, Kyle Anslinger's 3-point basket at the buzzer produced a 63-61 Evansville win. "When you go on the road, any win is a big win," Creighton center Anthony Tolliver said. "That's why beating Drake was huge for us. Drake, like most teams, plays a lot harder at home. To win that game, especially the way we did it, is definitely going to give us a little more confidence." A victory tonight would leave Creighton tied with just one other team for the Valley lead with four games to play. The other co-leaders meet when Wichita State plays at Northern Iowa. A win also would give the Bluejays some momentum heading into Saturday's home game against Southern Illinois. • NOTES: Evansville is 6-5 against Creighton at home but trails 15-8 in the series . . . The Valley named Creighton freshman guard Josh Dotzler as its newcomer of the week after he averaged 8.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in wins over Northern Iowa and Drake. Dotzler's 10 assists against Drake were the most by a Bluejay freshman since Ryan Sears recorded 10 assists in a 1997 game . . . Creighton senior Jimmy Motz will be playing in his 100th career game tonight. The starters Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom Copyright ©2006 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or distributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald. 
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