The Panthers had two games over the past week, and the first was against Evansville, traveling to Evansville, Ind. Coming into the game on a three-game losing streak, this looked like the perfect game to get back on track, as the Purple Aces had not won a game in conference play. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they could not get the job done. 

Evansville made a 3-pointer to start off the game, and kept the lead going after that. Slowly they extended their lead over time, and after a 7-0 run with just under seven minutes remaining in the half, the Purple Aces had more than doubled the Panthers score, 31-15. Their lead got as big as 19 points, and at the break they were ahead by 17, 43-26.

Although the Purple Aces were on pace for nearly 90 points in the game, things changed in the second half. While the Panthers were not getting much scoring themselves, they were completely shutting down Evansville. The Panthers started the half on a 10-0 run, and the Purple Aces did not get a basket until the 12:28 mark. Seeing the first basket of the half go through was big for them, as they started to get some things going. The Panthers were unable to maintain their good start to the half, and the closest they ever got to the lead was seven points. By the end of the night, it was Evansville getting their first conference victory, 71-59.

After the game on the road, the Panthers got to play in the comforts of their home arena on Saturday. They played host to Indiana State, who had beaten them just a couple weeks prior. A revenge game would be important, as the losing streak continued to grow. By the end of the night, however, it was the Sycamores that left with the win.

The game started out going back-and-forth, and nearly eight minutes in, it was locked up at 14. Back-to-back 3-pointers by the Sycamores quickly started to bring things their way. They went on a 15-2 run, and it was capped off by a dunk. The Panthers did not back down, and immediately responded with a quick 9-0 run. However, that would be about the last good moment of the half for the Panthers, as the Sycamores ended the half on a 15-4 run. The score was 44-29 at the break. 

The Sycamores came out of the break ready to put the Panthers away. They opened it up with a 15-2 run, making it a 30-6 run since late in the first half. Up by nearly 30 points, there was not much the Panthers could do to get back into the game. The Panthers tried to keep fighting, but they were never able to cut the lead to less than 16 points. The Sycamores ultimately came away victorious by a final score of 80-62

The Panthers are now losers of five in a row, and things do not get much easier to finish the schedule. Their last four games are all against teams in the top half of the Missouri Valley Conference standings. Their next game is against conference leader Drake, who they will host on Wednesday, Feb. 15. These teams last met up in Des Moines, a game that the Bulldogs won 88-81 in double overtime, despite two 3-pointers from Bowen Born at the buzzer to end regulation as well as the first overtime.