1981–82 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

The 1981–82 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Dick Walters and they played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Midwestern City Conference. After winning the MCC regular season championship by two games, the Purple Aces won the MCC tournament to receive an automatic bid to the 1982 NCAA tournament. They were defeated by Marquette in the opening round.

1981–82 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
MCC Regular season champions MCC tournament champions
1982 NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Midwestern City Conference
Record	23–6 (10–2 MCC)
Head coach	Dick Walters
Home arena	Roberts Municipal Stadium

1981–82 Midwestern City Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Evansville †	10	–	2		.833			23	–	6		.793
Oral Roberts	8	–	4		.667			18	–	12		.600
Loyola-Chicago	8	–	4		.667			17	–	12		.586
Oklahoma City	6	–	6		.500			14	–	14		.500
Detroit	6	–	6		.500			10	–	17		.370
Butler	3	–	9		.250			7	–	20		.259
Xavier	1	–	11		.083			8	–	20		.286
† 1982 MCC tournament winner

Roster

1981–82 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G Brad Leaf 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Indianapolis, IN C Richie Johnson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Albany, Indiana F Theren Bullock 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Sr G Eric Harris 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Sr C Emir Turam 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) — So C Kenny Perry 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Rockport, Indiana F Rick McKinstry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — So G Murray Lendy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Jr G Jeff Embrey 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) — Fr C Steve Sherwood 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Sr F David Bennett 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Fr G Steve Sanders 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) — So George Petrakos — — Lance Furr — —	Head coach Dick Walters (Illinois State) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 30, 1981*		Baltimore	W 82–51	1–0	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Dec 5, 1981*		at Indiana State	L 58–67	1–1	Hulman Center  Terre Haute, Indiana
Dec 9, 1981*		Southern Illinois	W 82–51	2–1	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Dec 12, 1981*		Western Kentucky	W 73–70	3–1	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Dec 14, 1981*		at Valparaiso	W 78–56	4–1	Hilltop Gym  Valparaiso, Indiana
Dec 18, 1981*		vs. Cal State Fullerton	W 62–51	5–1	Titan Gym  Fullerton, California
Dec 19, 1981*		at Pepperdine	W 77–69	6–1	Firestone Fieldhouse  Malibu, California
Dec 22, 1981*		at Austin Peay	W 72–54	7–1	Dunn Center  Clarksville, Tennessee
Dec 29, 1981*		Tennessee Tech	W 67–43	8–1	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Dec 30, 1981*		Murray State	W 77–58	9–1	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Jan 2, 1982*		Missouri–St. Louis	W 86–47	10–1	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Jan 6, 1982*		at Kansas	L 65–72 OT	10–2	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Jan 9, 1982		Xavier	W 82–52	11–2 (1–0)	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Jan 16, 1982		at Oral Roberts	W 63–62	12–2 (2–0)	Mabee Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 18, 1982		at Oklahoma City	L 54–75	12–3 (2–1)	Frederickson Fieldhouse  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jan 23, 1982		Loyola–Chicago	W 84–80	13–3 (3–1)	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Jan 25, 1982		at Detroit	W 86–69	14–3 (4–1)	Calihan Hall  Detroit, Michigan
Jan 30, 1982		at Butler	W 80–47	15–3 (5–1)	Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, Indiana
Feb 1, 1982		Valparaiso	W 80–66	16–3	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Feb 6, 1982		at Xavier	W 76–73	17–3 (6–1)	Schmidt Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 10, 1982*		at No. 3 DePaul	L 58–59	17–4	Rosemont Horizon (13,137) Rosemont, Illinois
Feb 13, 1982		Oral Roberts	W 71–47	18–4 (7–1)	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Feb 15, 1982		Oklahoma City	W 45–41	19–4 (8–1)	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Feb 20, 1982		at Loyola–Chicago	W 79–73	20–4 (9–1)	Alumni Gym  Chicago, Illinois
Feb 22, 1982*		Detroit	L 65–69	20–5 (9–2)	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Feb 27, 1982		Butler	W 68–58	21–5 (10–2)	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
MCC tournament
Mar 3, 1982*	(1)	vs. (4) Oklahoma City Quarterfinals	W 57–45	22–5	Mabee Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Mar 4, 1982*	(1)	vs. (3) Loyola–Chicago Championship game	W 81–72	23–5	Mabee Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
NCAA tournament
Mar 11, 1982*	(10 MW)	vs. (7 MW) Marquette First round	L 62–67	23–6	Mabee Center (8,680) Tulsa, Oklahoma
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings