The 2019–20 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton College, in Grantham, England. UE offers more than 80 differ ...

during the

2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2019. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded prematurely on March 12, 2020. The 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was sch ...

. The Purple Aces played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

(MVC). They finished the season 9–23, 0–18 in MVC play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the MVC tournament to Valparaiso. They were coached by

Walter McCarty Walter Lee McCarty (born February 1, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. McCarty played for the NBA's New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and the Los Angeles Clippers. He last served as head coach o ...

until he was placed on administrative leave on December 27 for alleged

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

violations and ultimately fired on January 21. Assistant coach Bennie Seltzer acted as interim coach until

Todd Lickliter Todd Arlan Lickliter (born April 17, 1955) is the former head coach of the Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). He was previously the head coach of Marian University, the University of Iowa, and Bu ...

was hired as the new head coach.

Previous season

The Purple Aces finished the 2018–19 season 11–21, 5–13 in MVC play to finish in last place. As the No. 10 seed in the MVC tournament, they lost to

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

in the first round.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2019 recruiting class

Preseason

Evansville was picked to finish eighth in the MVC in the preseason despite returning leading scorer K.K. Riley and incorporating three transfers who sat out the previous season.

Season notes

Win over No. 1 Kentucky

On November 12, Evansville scored its first win over a No. 1-ranked team in program history when it upset

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

67–64. Junior guard Sam Cunliffe hit a pair of free throws with 6.8 seconds to go to help secure the victory for the Purple Aces and finished with 17 points.

Coaching changes

The season saw Evansville go through several coaching changes. First, second-year head coach Walter McCarty was placed on administrative leave by the school on December 27, 2019 pending a

investigation against him. Assistant coach Bennie Seltzer served as interim head coach of the Purple Aces during McCarty's initial absence. On January 21, 2020, Evansville fired McCarty following additional allegations of misconduct, and named former

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

head coach Todd Lickliter (who had served as assistant coach under McCarty a season prior, before resigning due to health problems) as the new head coach.

Roster

Schedule and results

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball seasons

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in S ...