Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
The Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represents the Purple Aces of the University of Evansville, located in Evansville, Indiana, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at the Ford Center. Evansville's athletics teams were originally known as the Pioneers in the early part of the 1900s. In the 1920s, the name Aces arose after a local sports writer wrote in a game story of the men's basketball team, "They played like Aces." The team has been known as the Aces and/or Purple Aces ever since. Evansville has won five Division II national championships (1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1971).
| Evansville Purple Aces | ||||
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| University | University of Evansville | |||
| Head coach | David Ragland (2nd season) | |||
| Conference | Missouri Valley | |||
| Location | Evansville, Indiana | |||
| Arena | Ford Center (Capacity: 10,000) | |||
| Nickname | Purple Aces | |||
| Colors | Purple, white, and orange | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
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| NCAA tournament champions | ||||
| 1959*, 1960*, 1964*, 1965*, 1971* | ||||
| NCAA tournament Final Four | ||||
| 1958*, 1959*, 1960*, 1964*, 1965*, 1971* | ||||
| NCAA tournament Elite Eight | ||||
| 1958*, 1959*, 1960*, 1963*, 1964*, 1965*, 1968*, 1971* | ||||
| NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1957*, 1958*, 1959*, 1960*, 1962*, 1963*, 1964*, 1965*, 1966*, 1968*, 1971*, 1972*, 1976* | ||||
| NCAA tournament second round | ||||
| 1989 | ||||
| NCAA tournament appearances | ||||
| 1957*, 1958*, 1959*, 1960*, 1961*, 1962*, 1963*, 1964*, 1965*, 1966*, 1968*, 1971*, 1972*, 1974*, 1976*, 1982, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1999 *at Division II level | ||||
| Conference tournament champions | ||||
| Midwestern Collegiate Conference 1982, 1992, 1993 | ||||
| Conference regular season champions | ||||
| Midwestern Collegiate Conference 1982, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993 Missouri Valley Conference 1999 | ||||
On November 12, 2019, the Aces earned one of the biggest victories in their Division I history, upsetting top-ranked Kentucky at Rupp Arena. Since joining Division I in 1977-78, the Purple Aces have appeared in five NCAA tournaments, making their most recent appearance in 1999. In 1989, Evansville upset Oregon State and advanced to the Round of 32 of the 1989 NCAA tournament.