2020–21 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team
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 Purple Aces were led by head coach Todd Lickliter 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, 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 in the quarterfinals.
2020–21 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball | |
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Conference | Missouri Valley Conference |
Record | 9–16 (7–11 MVC) |
Head coach |
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Assistant coaches |
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Home arena | Ford Center |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 17 Loyola Chicago † | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 26 | – | 5 | .839 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Drake | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 26 | – | 5 | .839 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Missouri State | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 17 | – | 7 | .708 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana State | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 15 | – | 10 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Evansville | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 9 | – | 16 | .360 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Valparaiso | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 10 | – | 18 | .357 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Iowa | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 10 | – | 15 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bradley | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 12 | – | 16 | .429 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southern Illinois | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 12 | – | 14 | .462 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois State | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 7 | – | 18 | .280 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† 2021 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll |
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 until he was placed on administrative leave on December 27 for alleged Title IX violations[1] and ultimately fired on January 21.[2] Assistant coach Bennie Seltzer acted as interim coach until Todd Lickliter was hired as the new head coach.[3]
Preseason
In the conference's preseason poll, Evansville was picked to finish last in the MVC.[4][5]
Roster
2020–21 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule and results
Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site city, state | ||||||
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Non-conference regular season | |||||||||||
Nov 25, 2020* 3:00 pm, ACCN |
Louisville Wade Houston Tipoff Classic |
L 44–79 | 0–1 |
KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||
Nov 27, 2020* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 |
Prairie View A&M Wade Houston Tipoff Classic |
L 61–64 | 0–2 |
KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||
Dec 2, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ |
at UT Martin | L 87–93 2OT | 0–3 |
Skyhawk Arena Martin, TN | |||||||
Canceled due to COVID-19[6] | |||||||||||
Dec 9, 2020* 6:00 pm |
Eastern Illinois | W 68–65 | 1–3 |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Canceled due to COVID-19[7] | |||||||||||
Dec 15, 2020* 6:00 pm |
Southeast Missouri State | W 63–61 OT | 2–3 |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Dec 21, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ |
Belmont | L 63–72 | 2–4 |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Missouri Valley Conference regular season | |||||||||||
Dec 27, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN+ |
at Southern Illinois | L 57–63 | 2–5 (0–1) |
SIU Arena Carbondale, IL | |||||||
Dec 28, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN+ |
at Southern Illinois | W 84–72 | 3–5 (1–1) |
SIU Arena Carbondale, IL | |||||||
Jan 2, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ |
Northern Iowa | W 65–61 | 4–5 (2–1) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Jan 3, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ |
Northern Iowa | W 70–64 | 5–5 (3–1) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Jan 9, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3 |
Illinois State | W 57–48 | 6–5 (4–1) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Jan 10, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3 |
Illinois State | L 68–73 | 6–6 (4–2) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Jan 16, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3 |
at Bradley | L 60–69 | 6–7 (4–3) |
Carver Arena Peoria, IL | |||||||
Jan 17, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3 |
at Bradley | L 55–86 | 6–8 (4–4) |
Peoria Civic Center Peoria, IL | |||||||
Jan 31, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3 |
Valparaiso | W 70–52 | 7–8 (5–4) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Feb 1, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN3 |
Valparaiso | W 58–51 | 8–8 (6–4) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Feb 6, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+ |
at Loyola | L 55–68 | 8–9 (6–5) |
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL | |||||||
Feb 7, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+ |
at Loyola | L 58–69 | 8–10 (6–6) |
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL | |||||||
Feb 14, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3 |
Indiana State | L 70–76 | 8–11 (6–7) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Feb 17, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3 |
at Indiana State | L 73–98 | 8–12 (6–8) |
Hulman Center Terre Haute, IN | |||||||
Feb 21, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ |
at Drake | L 71–85 | 8–13 (6–9) |
Knapp Center Des Moines, IA | |||||||
Feb 22, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+ |
at Drake | L 63–74 | 8–14 (6–10) |
Knapp Center Des Moines, IA | |||||||
Feb 26, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+ |
Missouri State | L 81–90 | 8–15 (6–11) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
Feb 27, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+ |
Missouri State | W 72–63 | 9–15 (7–11) |
Ford Center Evansville, IN | |||||||
MVC tournament | |||||||||||
March 5, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+ |
(5) | vs. (4) Indiana State Quarterfinals |
L 43–53 | 9–16 |
Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO | ||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |
References
- West, Jenna. "Evansville Places Walter McCarty on Leave". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- Lindskog, Chad. "University of Evansville fires Walter McCarty as head men's basketball coach". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- "Former Iowa head coach Todd Lickliter hired at Evansville". HawkeyeInsider.com. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- "UNI favored in MVC Men's Basketball Poll". MVC-Sports.com]. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- "2020-21 MVC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll" (PDF). mvc-sports.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- Courier & Press: "Evansville basketball cancels Saturday's game with Saint Louis"
- Courier & Press: "Evansville basketball cancels Saturday's game with Saint Louis"