# 2019–20 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (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 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.

## 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 in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Marty Hill | 1 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Senior | Brooklyn Park, MN | Graduated |
| Jared Chestnut | 12 | G | 6'2" | 180 | Senior | Evansville, IN | Graduated |
| Dainius Chatkevičius | 14 | C | 6'9" | 240 | RS Senior | Klaipėda, Lithuania | Graduated |
| Shea Feehan | 25 | G | 6'0" | 155 | RS Senior | Peoria, IL | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Peace Ilegomah | 42 | F | 6'9" | 240 | Junior | Benin City, Nigeria | Transferred from Pittsburgh. Under NCAA transfer rules, Ilegomah will have to sit out until December. Will have one and a half years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Marcus Henderson PG | Charlotte, NC | United Faith Christian Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | Oct 10, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## 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 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 Title IX 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 and Iowa 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.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 28, 2019* 6:00 pm | | Southern Indiana | W 71–68 | | Ford Center (6,263) Evansville, IN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 9, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ball State | W 79–75 | 1–0 | Ford Center (5,372) Evansville, IN |
| Nov 12, 2019* 6:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 1 Kentucky | W 67–64 | 2–0 | Rupp Arena (19,101) Lexington, KY |
| Nov 14, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | IU–Kokomo | W 89–71 | 3–0 | Ford Center (5,267) Evansville, IN |
| Nov 18, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | SMU | L 57–59 | 3–1 | Ford Center (5,639) Evansville, IN |
| Nov 22, 2019* 7:00 pm | | East Carolina Islands of the Bahamas Showcase first round | L 68–85 | 3–2 | Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium (300) Freeport, GB |
| Nov 23, 2019* 2:00 pm | | George Washington Islands of the Bahamas Showcase consolation 2nd round | L 70–78 | 3–3 | Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium (300) Freeport, GB |
| Nov 24, 2019* 11:00 | | Morgan State Islands of the Bahamas Showcase 7th place game | W 115–112 $^{3OT}$ | 4–3 | Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium (300) Freeport, GB |
| Nov 30, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at IUPUI | W 70–64 | 5–3 | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (1,659) Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 4, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Illinois | W 90–86 | 6–3 | Ford Center (4,509) Evansville, IN |
| Dec 7, 2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Miami (OH) | W 101–87 | 7–3 | Ford Center (5,264) Evansville, IN |
| Dec 14, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Green Bay | W 72–62 | 8–3 | Resch Center (1,924) Green Bay, WI |
| Dec 16, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville State | L 59–85 | 8–4 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,155) Jacksonville, AL |
| Dec 21, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Murray State | W 78–76 $^{OT}$ | 9–4 | Ford Center (7,316) Evansville, IN |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| Dec 31, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | L 52–65 | 9–5 (0–1) | JQH Arena (4,206) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 4, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | L 79–81 $^{OT}$ | 9–6 (0–2) | Ford Center (5,615) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 8, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Bradley | L 52–72 | 9–7 (0–3) | Ford Center (4,489) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 11, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 44–78 | 9–8 (0–4) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,033) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 15, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Indiana State | L 42–65 | 9–9 (0–5) | Hulman Center (2,035) Terre Haute, IN |
| Jan 18, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Missouri State | L 58–68 | 9–10 (0–6) | Ford Center (4,591) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 22, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Drake | L 50–73 | 9–11 (0–7) | Ford Center (4,913) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 26, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | L 65–67 | 9–12 (0–8) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,044) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 29, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | L 66–77 | 9–13 (0–9) | Redbird Arena (4,022) Normal, IL |
| Feb 1, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Iowa | L 68–80 | 9–14 (0–10) | Ford Center (4,669) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 5, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Southern Illinois | L 60–64 $^{OT}$ | 9–15 (0–11) | Ford Center (4,691) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 9, 2020 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Bradley | L 58–69 | 9–16 (0–12) | Carver Arena (5,719) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 12, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Loyola–Chicago | L 66–73 | 9–17 (0–13) | Ford Center (4,272) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 16, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | L 80–85 | 9–18 (0–14) | Knapp Center (4,067) Des Moines, IA |
| Feb 20, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Southern Illinois | L 53–70 | 9–19 (0–15) | SIU Arena (5,466) Carbondale, IL |
| Feb 23, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | L 62–64 | 9–20 (0–16) | Ford Center (5,447) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 26, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | L 64–84 | 9–21 (0–17) | McLeod Center (4,934) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Feb 29, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Illinois State | L 60–71 | 9–22 (0–18) | Ford Center (4,983) Evansville, IN |
| MVC tournament ||||||
| March 5, 2020 8:30 pm, ESPN+ | (10) | vs. (7) Valparaiso First round | L 55–58 | 9–23 | Enterprise Center (5,212) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||