On November 12, 2019, the Aces earned one of the biggest victories in their Division I history, upsetting top-ranked Kentucky at Rupp Arena.

In the early years of the men's basketball program the Purple Aces appeared in the NAIA national tournament.

The Evansville Purple Aces rank second all-time in NCAA College Division national championships with five: 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965 (29–0 record) and 1971.

That same year on December 13, a chartered DC-3 carrying the entire UE basketball team crashed in a field near the Evansville Regional Airport en route to a game against Middle Tennessee State.

David Furr, who was a member of the 1977–78 Purple Aces squad, did not die in the crash, as he was out for the season with an ankle injury and thus was not on the plane that day.

However, only just two weeks later after the crash, Furr and his younger brother Byron were killed in a car accident near Newton, Illinois, leaving the entire 1977–78 Purple Aces team dead.

The Aces are now a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, and won the 1999 regular season title.

They were CIT champions in 2015 Twelve players and two coaches have had their jerseys retired by the school.