Evansville men’s basketball falls to Northern Iowa in MVC Tournament

The University of Evansville men’s basketball season ended like many others in recent memory.

No. 6-seeded Northern Iowa defeated the No. 11-seeded Purple Aces 68-59 in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conferene Tournament on March 5 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. UE ran out of steam over the final minutes after leading at halftime.

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More: USI women’s basketball advances to OVC Tournament semifinal with dominant victory

The Aces finished with a 7-25 record in Year 4 under coach David Ragland.

“We went through a ton with injuries and different things,” he said postgame. “They never flinched. Our record is not great. It’s not where want to be. It’s not where we’re going to continue to be.”

File this as another missed opportunity. Evansville trailed by 12 midway through the opening half but took a 36-35 lead on an AJ Casey 3-pointer at the horn. The Aces remained competitive over the final 20 minutes, trailing by one possession with under three left.

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The upset bid was thwarted for two reasons: Northern Iowa (20-12) closed the game on a 9-3 run and allowed one made basket over the final three minutes, and Trey Campbell also filled up the scoreboard with 23 points on 5-of-12 shooting from deep.

The other fault from the Aces was 14 turnovers compared to only four by UNI. Casey had another fantastic game with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Leif Moeller (15) and Trent Hundley (14) were also in double figures.

“I thought with 12 minutes to go we were doing a really good job getting our feet in the paint,” Ragland said. “Credit to UNI. They made some plays when we had an opportunity to tie the game or maybe even take the lead. That’s a Ben Jacobsen team. They compete and battle. He’s first-class. Proud of our fight, but it wasn’t enough this evening.”

Evansville’s Trent Hundley (45) eyes a three-point shot as the University of Evansville Purple Aces play the University of Illinois Chicago Flames at Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.

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Publish date : 2026-03-06 13:22:00

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