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 Carnegie Hall of Moores Hill College, Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton Manor, Harlaxton College ...

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 fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

(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 who serves as the head coach of the Freseros de Irapuato in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). McCarty played for the NBA ...

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

Title IX Title IX is a landmark 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 education program that receiv ...

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 ...

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 research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching ...

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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

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 pantries, pantr ...

and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

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