Evansville stuns No. 1 Kentucky in all-time basketball upset

And we’re months removed from March.

But everything came up aces for Evansville on Tuesday night, as the team picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference waltzed into Lexington and knocked off college basketball’s No. 1 team.

Kentucky had just beat Michigan State last week in the Champion’s Classic last week to take over the top spot in the polls, only to lose at home to an unranked team for first time in 52 games. The Wildcats were a 25-point favorite.

The Purple Aces are coached by former Kentucky player Walter McCarty, who won a national championship with the Wildcats in 1996 and is in his second season with Evansville.

“To be able to come back home and play against the No. 1 team in the country and be able to perform the way that we did, I don’t know if anything matches this other than winning a national championship,” McCarty said. "It’s awesome, man. To be able to come here and play on this type of stage. My guys, I got a good group of guys, I really do. They love each other. They’re very connected.

“To bring this group in here and to be able to do that is just awesome; it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Most sports books didn’t have a pregame moneyline for Evansville, but it was listed at 40/1 in one offshore shop. And, according to Pregame.com, it’s only the fifth time in 910 games since 2006 that a 25-point favorite has lost in college basketball.

News of Kentucky’s loss reverberated around the college basketball world, including up the road to Bloomington.

Meanwhile, what an accomplishment for McCarty. Evansville won just 11 games in his first season. Prior to taking the job, McCarty spent five years as an assistant with the Boston Celtics and had a 10-year NBA career.

He went to high school at William Henry Harrison ... in Evansville.

Source: Mlive.com

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