EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Evansville came into Wednesday night’s game with Drake in a state of transition: The Purple Aces had just dismissed former coach Walter McCarthy after an investigation into alleged Title IX misconduct. In came former Iowa and Butler head coach Todd Lickliter as the team’s new coach.

Drake gave him a rude awakening to his new job.

The Bulldogs took control of the game early on and ran away with a 73-50 win to move to 14-6 and 4-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Evansville continued its slide, falling to 9-11 and 0-7 in MVC play.

The Bulldogs had a torrid first half, stretching out a 20-point lead on the back of hot shooting. The Bulldogs went 10-for-16 from 3-point range while holding the Aces to 29 percent from beyond the arc.

Bulldogs coach Darian DeVries said in his post-game press conference that he was excited by how Drake played offensively.

“They were very together and unselfish tonight and competed,” DeVries said. “Because of that, we were able to get a lot of good shots. We were going inside-out, playing strong, playing physical and playing downhill.”

Leading the Bulldogs was Liam Robbins with 16 points and eight rebounds. Joining him in double figures were Roman Penn with 14 points and Garrett Sturtz with 10.

Up next for Drake is a home game Sunday against preseason MVC favorite Missouri State.

Drake 73, Evansville 50

At Evansville, Ind.

DRAKE (14-6) — Sturtz 5-5 0-0 10, Wilkins 3-10 2-2 9, A.Murphy 3-6 0-0 8, Robbins 6-17 4-4 16, Penn 5-11 1-1 14, Jackson 3-4 0-0 9, Thomas 0-3 0-0 0, Pilipovic 1-2 2-2 5, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Barrett 1-1 0-0 2, Gholson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 27-59 9-9 73.

EVANSVILLE (9-11) — Riley 1-3 2-2 4, Newton 2-4 3-4 8, Frederking 1-8 0-0 2, Henderson 2-4 0-0 6, Labinowicz 1-6 2-2 4, Hall 3-10 1-1 7, Givance 3-3 0-3 9, Cunliffe 2-8 1-2 5, Kuhlman 1-6 2-2 5, Straub 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 16-53 11-16 50.

Halftime–Drake 46-26. 3-Point Goals–Drake 10-16 (Penn 3-3, Jackson 3-4, A.Murphy 2-2, Pilipovic 1-1, Wilkins 1-5, Thomas 0-1), Evansville 7-29 (Givance 3-3, Henderson 2-4, Newton 1-1, Kuhlman 1-3, Riley 0-1, Labinowicz 0-2, Cunliffe 0-4, Hall 0-4, Frederking 0-7). Fouled Out–Robbins. Rebounds–Drake 36 (Robbins 8), Evansville 29 (Hall 7). Assists–Drake 21 (Penn 8), Evansville 10 (Riley, Henderson 3). Total Fouls–Drake 21, Evansville 13. A–4,913 (10,000).