Sport Evansville got paid $90K to go into Rupp Arena and beat Kentucky

Outside of its neck of Indiana, Evansville basketball wasn’t on college basketball radars entering the season.

© Provided by Oath Inc. Walter McCarty, who starred for an iconic Kentucky champion, just coached one of the biggest upsets in Rupp Arena history. (AP Photo/James Crisp)

That all changed on Tuesday when the Purple Aces stunned No. 1 Kentucky in Rupp Arena to stake a claim for the biggest story of this very early basketball season.

BOX SCORE: EVANSVILLE 67, NO. 1 KENTUCKY 64

Making the win even sweeter? Evansville got paid $90,000 for the visit.

The Louisville Courier-Journal did a dive into the economics of a mid-major school like Evansville and reported that the $90,000 payment Kentucky offered Evansville to make the road trip is standard fare from top-level programs.

So what led to Evansville upsetting Kentucky basketball? A look at the numbers

What contributed to the Cats embarrassing loss to the Purple Aces? We took a look at the stats.We took a look at the numbers to see exactly what contributed to what some are saying is the worst loss for UK in the Calipari era.

Kentucky had just been elevated to No. 1 in the nation when it was served a massive home upset.

Rupp Arena . Created with Sketch. Lexington Center Rupp Arena Lexington Convention Center Lexington Opera House Triangle Park The Shops At Lexington Center. UKMBB vs Eastern Kentucky University. Event Starts 7:00 PM. Buy Tickets More Information.

The thing about those payments is that they’re expected to come with a win attached. Evansville’s visit was no exception.

The Purple Aces aren’t some sort of mid-major powerhouse. They entered the season picked by Missouri Valley Conference media to finish eighth out of 10 teams in the conference. They’re coming off an 11-21 season last year.

They were 25-point underdogs.

They’re coached by Walter McCarty, who was a member of the 1996 Kentucky powerhouse team that won the NCAA championship. McCarty went on to be a first-round pick in the NBA, where he went on to play for 12 seasons and a journeyman backup.

He recorded some of the biggest wins in Rupp Arena as a member of the Wildcats and just walked away responsible for one of the biggest losses.

Evansville stuns No. 1 Kentucky at Rupp Arena, 67-64

Evansville showed no fear either of Kentucky or venerable Rupp Arena, where the Wildcats had been perfect at ruining visitors' dreams of pulling off the seemingly impossible. Until Tuesday night. Not only did the Purple Aces deal No. 1 Kentucky a stunning 67-64 upset, they beat the bigger, stronger Wildcats at their own game throughout. When it was over, players, coaches and their fans whooped it up in a corner of the famed court, making sure they savored every bit of a momentous victory.BOX SCORE: EVANSVILLE 67, NO.

Kentucky head coach Adolph Rupp , center, gets help from the cheerleaders in celebrating their victory over So Chip Rupp went to Vanderbilt, which along with numerous non-SEC schools also offered him a Rupp loves the Kentucky arena that bears his family name, but he has fond memories of

Kentucky Sports Radio. University of Kentucky Basketball, Football, and Recruiting news brought to With that in mind, here are some suggestions on how to make the game day atmosphere at Rupp better. Can you imagine how disrupting it will be with people constantly getting up to go get beers?

And his Purple Aces got paid $90,000 for the pleasure of delivering it.

Related slideshow: 2019-20 college basketball season (Provided by imagn)