The 2020–21 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the
University of Evansville in the
2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020 and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5.
Season ...
. The Purple Aces were led by head coach
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 ...
in his first full season at Evansville and played their home games at the
Ford Center as members of the
Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). In a season limited due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, they finished the season 9–16, 7–11 in
MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the
MVC tournament, they lost to
Indiana State
Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...
in the quarterfinals.
Previous season
The
Purple Aces finished the
2019–20 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 violations and ultimately fired on January 21. Assistant coach
Bennie Seltzer acted as interim coach until Todd Lickliter was hired as the new head coach.
Preseason
In the conference's preseason poll, Evansville was picked to finish last in the MVC.
Roster
Schedule and results
, -
!colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season
, -
!colspan=9 style=, Missouri Valley Conference regular season
, -
!colspan=12 style=,
MVC tournament
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team
Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball seasons
Evansville
Evansville
Evansville