Evansville Purple Aces

The Purple Aces won seven games in 2025-26 and lost 12.05 moneyline units over 29 priced games; only 29 Division I teams lost more. Four of those wins came at prices of +195 or longer, the best 88-80 over Illinois State at +455.

Where the wins came from

Evansville were underdogs 26 times. The four Division I wins against the price were Oregon State 73-69 at +240 at a neutral site, 72-69 at Indiana State at +270, Illinois State 88-80 at home at +455, and Valparaiso 80-79 at home at +195. Those four returned 11.6 units between them. The other 21 priced underdog games were all lost, a unit each, so the underdog side of the season finished 9.4 down.

The four games as favorites

Evansville were favored four times and lost three, all at home by close margins: Middle Tennessee 77-72 at -140, UT Arlington 84-76 at -145 and Drake 66-65 at -142. The only favorite win was 64-52 over Ball State. Those four favorite games cost 2.65 units.

Points and the spread

The Purple Aces scored 66.97 a game; 18 Division I teams scored less. Against the spread they went 14-16, 13 of 26 as underdogs, and 7 of 13 away against 5 of 13 at home. On the road they won once in 13 games, the Indiana State upset, and the road moneyline lost 8.3 units. The widest road defeat was 98-64 at Belmont as 18.5-point underdogs.

Opponents

Northern Iowa won all three meetings, the last 68-59 in the MVC tournament, which Evansville covered at +13.5. Bradley won twice but Evansville covered both. Southern Illinois and UIC won twice each without an Evansville cover, the second UIC game 84-46.

The total

Evansville games split 15 over and 15 under. The two lowest totals of the season, 128.5 and 127.5, both against Northern Iowa, stayed under, as did the January home loss to the same team, 62-48.

Questions and answers