2020–21 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

2020–21 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record9–16 (7–11 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaFord Center
Seasons
2020–21 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
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

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.

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
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Gage Bobe 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So South Knox Vincennes, IN
G 1 Emmette Page 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Ossesso Senior High School Brooklyn Park, MN
F 2 Jack Levitch 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Trinity High School Louisville, ky
G 3 Jawaun Newton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Burges El Paso
G 4 Devan Straub (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Mater Dei
IU Kokomo 		Evansville, IN
G 5 Shamar Givance 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Jr First Love Christian Academy Toronto, ON
F 10 Evan Kuhlman 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Lakota East Liberty Township, OH
G 11 Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So The Potter's House Christian Academy Hamilton, ON
F 23 Trey Hall 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Link Year Prep Willimantic, CT
G 24 Alex Matthews 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr John Hardin HS Elizabethtown, ky
G 30 Noah Frederking 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Okawville Okawville, IL
F 31 Iyen Enaruna 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Cloud County CC Amsterdam, Netherlands
G 41 Samari Curtis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Xenia HS
Nebraska 		Xenia, OH
F 42 Peace Ilegomah 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Montverde Academy
Pittsburgh 		Benin City, Nigeria
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
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
Dec 6, 2020*
TBA 		IUPUI Canceled due to COVID-19[6] Ford Center 
Evansville, IN
Dec 9, 2020*
6:00 pm 		Eastern Illinois W 68–65  1–3
 Ford Center 
Evansville, IN
Dec 12, 2020*
2:00 pm 		Saint Louis Canceled due to COVID-19[7] Chaifetz Arena 
Saint Louis, MO
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

  1. ^ West, Jenna. "Evansville Places Walter McCarty on Leave". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  2. ^ Lindskog, Chad. "University of Evansville fires Walter McCarty as head men's basketball coach". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  3. ^ "Former Iowa head coach Todd Lickliter hired at Evansville". HawkeyeInsider.com. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "UNI favored in MVC Men's Basketball Poll". MVC-Sports.com]. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  5. ^ "2020-21 MVC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll" (PDF). mvc-sports.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Courier & Press: "Evansville basketball cancels Saturday's game with Saint Louis"
  7. ^ Courier & Press: "Evansville basketball cancels Saturday's game with Saint Louis"