EVANSVILLE - University of Evansville basketball fans were excited by Thursday night’s championship of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and hopeful it signals even greater achievements next season.
A juiced-up crowd of 4,549 fed energy to the Purple Aces, who defeated Northern Arizona 71-65 for the CIT crown. Fans in purple, orange and white filled much of the Ford Center’s available lower bowl seating (the area behind one basket was taken by a stage set up for an Easter church service) and created a big-game atmosphere.
Fans stood and roared in the close contest’s waning minutes. The size of Thursday’s crowd wasn’t much bigger than Evansville’s season average, but its enthusiasm was sky-high.
“I wish every crowd next year was like this one. This is how it should be,” said Lance Wilkerson, marketing director for UE athletics and the men’s basketball team’s radio voice. “You know, the fans are the ones generating the noise, not the athletics department trying to force them to generate the noise. That’s how the great fan bases are, it comes from within.”
The Aces reeled off five wins in the CIT — three at the Ford Center and two on the road. Although the CIT wasn’t the NCAA Tournament or NIT fans wished for, Evansville’s CIT run delighted long-time rooters such as Steve Kweskin, who noted the Aces hadn’t won a postseason tournament since the Division II championship in 1971.
Kweskin said the CIT title “would be good for Marty,” referring to Aces’ eight-year coach Marty Simmons. “All the people who are against Marty, this might change their minds.”
Numerous fans said they hope positive vibes from Evansville’s CIT title carry over to next season, when the Aces’ nonconference schedule includes a trip the Wooden Classic in Anaheim, California. Teams such as Arizona, Michigan State, Boise State and Boston College are signed on to participate.
“It’s good experience for next year, and it’s good for recruiting down the line,” Aces fan Robert Elpers, of Haubstadt, said of the team’s CIT championship run. “Most teams who play in these tournaments (such as the CIT), the following year, they are better teams.”
Last year’s CIT champion, Murray State, finished 29-6 and won two games in the NIT.
Mark Miller of Evansville was a UE student during the program’s transition to Division I in the 1970s, and he’s been a fan ever since. As he awaited tipoff Thursday night in the Ford Center, he said a CIT title would mean only good things for the Aces.
“It would be a great springboard for next season, to get some enthusiasm for the future,” Miller said.
Wilkerson noted this year’s Aces struggled down the stretch, losing seven of their last 10 games before accepting the CIT invitation and dashing to the title.
“A lot of teams would have packed it in,” Wilkerson said. “I think our guys wanted to play. ... For these guys to experience success and cut down the nets, they can draw from this when we go to L.A. for Wooden Classic. And of course the most important thing is to play well in the Missouri Valley (Conference).”
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