2011–12 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

2011–12 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	† 2012 MVC Tournament winner ; As of March 19, 2012; Rankings from AP Poll

2011–12 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
2011–12 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
CBI, First Round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
2011–12 record	16–16 (9–9 Missouri Valley)
Head coach	Marty Simmons;
Assistant coaches	Jimmy Elgas; Carson Harris; Chris Hollender;
Home arena	Ford Center
	Seasons ← 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Marty Simmons and they played their home games at the Ford Center and are members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Purple Aces participated in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational, losing in the first round.

Previous season[]

In the previous season, the Purple Aces recorded a 15–14 mark overall, including a 9–9 conference record. Led by guard Colt Ryan, the team claimed a win against eventual national runner-up Butler. They were invited to the 2011 College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the quarterfinals.

Roster[]

This season, they return three starters and their top four scorers, including Colt Ryan. The team features three seniors and five juniors on the roster. However, the only returning front court player taller than 6'6" is Matt Peeler who saw very limited minutes in prior seasons.^[1]

2011–12 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	0	Ryan Sawvell	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Mundelein, IL
G	1	Jordan Nelson	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Lincoln, IL
F/C	3	Matt Peeler	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	Alamogordo, NM
G/F	4	Lewis Jones	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Memphis, TN
G	5	Troy Taylor	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	Jr	Anderson, IN
F/C	10	Jaylon Moore	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Olive Branch, MS
G/F	11	Colt Ryan	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Batesville, IN
G/F	13	Jordan Jahr	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Austin, TX
G	14	Andy Chinn	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Tell City, IN
G	20	Brandon Williams	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Charlotte, TN
G	22	Ned Cox	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	San Antonio, TX
F/C	25	Rokas Cesnulevicius	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Alytaus, LT
G/F	32	Kenneth Harris	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Saint Louis, MO
G/F	34	Denver Holmes	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Olathe, KS

Head coach

Marty Simmons (Evansville)

Assistant coach(es)

Jimmy Elgas (Illinois State)
Carson Harris (Manchester)
Chris Hollender (Evansville)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2011-10-30

Schedule[]

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Oct. 29* 4:05 pm	DePauw	W 81–52	–	Ford Center (3,846) Evansville, IN
Nov. 4* 7:05 pm	Illinois-Springfield	W 74–61	–	Ford Center (3,774) Evansville, IN
Regular Season
Nov. 12* 2:05 pm	Butler	W 80–77 ^OT	1–0	Ford Center (9,454) Evansville, IN
Nov. 16* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Indiana	L 73–94	1–1	Ford Center (9,640) Evansville, IN
Nov. 19* 2:05 pm	Oakland City	W 80–53	2–1	Ford Center (3,481) Evansville, IN
Nov. 23* 7:00 pm	at UIC	L 75–79	2–2	UIC Pavilion (1,987) Chicago, IL
Nov. 29* 7:35 pm	Alabama State	W 62–55	3–2	Ford Center (3,462) Evansville, IN
Dec. 3* 7:05 pm	TCU MWC–MVC Challenge	L 68–70 ^OT	3–3	Ford Center (5,198) Evansville, IN
Dec. 6* 6:00 pm, ESPNU	at No. 6 North Carolina	L 48–97	3–4	Dean E. Smith Center (15,623) Chapel Hill, NC
Dec. 10* 7:05 pm	North Carolina A&T	W 86–65	4–4	Ford Center (3,527) Evansville, IN
Dec. 17* 1:05 pm	Tennessee Tech	L 70–72	4–5	Ford Center (4,235) Evansville, IN
Dec. 20* 6:00 pm	at Miami (OH)	W 77–75	5–5	Millett Hall (1,565) Oxford, OH
Dec. 29 7:00 pm, MVC TV	Southern Illinois	W 78–60	6–5 (1–0)	Ford Center (6,105) Evansville, IN
Jan. 1 8:00 pm, ESPNU	at Northern Iowa	W 76–65	7–5 (2–0)	McLeod Center (3,653) Cedar Falls, IA
Jan. 4 7:05 pm	Wichita State	L 66–67	7–6 (2–1)	Ford Center (3,916) Evansville, IN
Jan. 7 1:05 pm	at Illinois State	L 73–75	7–7 (2–2)	Redbird Arena (5,333) Normal, IL
Jan. 10 6:05 pm	at Indiana State	L 78–80	7–8 (2–3)	Hulman Center (6,790) Terre Haute, IN
Jan. 13 7:05 pm	Drake	L 60–69	7–9 (2–4)	Ford Center (4,027) Evansville, IN
Jan. 15 2:05 pm	at Missouri State	W 87–82 ^OT	8–9 (3–4)	JQH Arena (7,654) Springfield, MO
Jan. 18 7:05 pm	Bradley	W 90–67	9–9 (4–4)	Ford Center (3,478) Evansville, IN
Jan. 21 7:05 pm	Illinois State	W 79–71	10–9 (5–4)	Ford Center (6,187) Evansville, IN
Jan. 25 7:00 pm, MVC TV	at Wichita State	L 74–86	10–10 (5–5)	Charles Koch Arena (10,219) Wichita, KS
Jan. 29 7:00 pm, ESPNU	Indiana State	L 81–90 ^2OT	10–11 (5–6)	Ford Center (5,836) Evansville, IN
Feb. 1 7:00 pm	at Bradley	W 92–62	11–11 (6–6)	Carver Arena (7,638) Peoria, IL
Feb. 4 2:05 pm	at Southern Illinois	L 52–53	11–12 (6–7)	SIU Arena (3,378) Carbondale, IL
Feb. 7 7:05 pm	No. 17 Creighton	W 65–57	12–12 (7–7)	Ford Center (5,128) Evansville, IN
Feb. 12 7:00 pm, ESPNU	at Drake	L 54–78	12–18 (8–8)	Knapp Center (3,477) Des Moines, IA
Feb. 15 7:05 pm	Northern Iowa	W 63–62	13–13 (8–8)	Ford Center (4,177) Evansville, IN
Feb. 18* 7:05 pm	Western Illinois Sears BracketBusters	W 68–45	14–13	Ford Center (5,147) Evansville, IN
Feb. 21 7:00 pm, MVC TV	at Creighton	L 92–93 ^OT	14–14 (8–9)	Qwest Center Omaha (16,447) Omaha, NE
Feb. 25 1:05 pm	Missouri State	W 75–70 ^OT	15–14 (9–9)	Ford Center (6,421) Evansville, IN
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
Mar. 2 8:35 pm, MVC TV	vs. Missouri State Quarterfinals	W 72–64	16–14	Scottrade Center (14,412) Saint Louis, MO
Mar. 3 4:05 pm, MVC TV	vs. No. 25 Creighton Semifinals	L 71–99	16–15	Scottrade Center (16,271) Saint Louis, MO
2012 CBI
Mar. 13* 7:00 pm, HDNet	Princeton First Round	L 86–95	16–16	Ford Center (3,012) Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time.

References[]

^ Dauster, Rob. "2011–12 Missouri Valley Preview: Is this Creighton's year?". Beyond the Arc. NBC Sports. Retrieved 31 October 2011.

[1] Dauster, Rob. "2011–12 Missouri Valley Preview: Is this Creighton's year?". Beyond the Arc. NBC Sports. Retrieved 31 October 2011.

[1]

v t Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
Venues	Roberts Municipal Stadium (1956–2011) Ford Center (2011–present)
Culture & lore	Aces Brass 1977 team plane crash
People
	1977–78 1988–89 1991–92 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
NCAA national championships in bold

2011–12 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 16 Wichita State	16	–	2	.889	27	–	5	.844
No. 19 Creighton †	14	–	4	.778	28	–	5	.848
Evansville	9	–	9	.500	16	–	16	.500
Illinois State	9	–	9	.500	21	–	14	.600
Northern Iowa	9	–	9	.500	20	–	14	.588
Missouri State	9	–	9	.500	16	–	16	.500
Drake	9	–	9	.500	18	–	16	.529
Indiana State	8	–	10	.444	18	–	15	.545
Southern Illinois	5	–	13	.278	8	–	23	.258
Bradley	2	–	16	.111	7	–	25	.219

† 2012 MVC Tournament winner As of March 19, 2012; Rankings from AP Poll