2017–18 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2017–18 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
Evansville Purple Aces logo.svg
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
2017–18 record17–15 (7–11 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Doug Novsek
  • Carson Harris
  • Kavon Lacey
Home arenaFord Center
Seasons
2017–18 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Loyola–Chicago † 15 – 3   .833 32 – 6   .842
Southern Illinois 11 – 7   .611 20 – 13   .606
Illinois State 10 – 8   .556 18 – 15   .545
Drake 10 – 8   .556 17 – 17   .500
Bradley 9 – 9   .500 20 – 13   .606
Indiana State 8 – 10   .444 13 – 18   .419
Missouri State 7 – 11   .389 18 – 15   .545
Evansville 7 – 11   .389 17 – 15   .531
Northern Iowa 7 – 11   .389 16 – 16   .500
Valparaiso 6 – 12   .333 15 – 17   .469
† 2018 MVC Tournament winner

The 2017–18 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by 11th-year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 17–15, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place. As the No. 8 seed in the MVC Tournament, they lost to Northern Iowa in the first round.

On March 13, 2018, Evansville fired head coach Marty Simmons.[1] He finished at Evansville with an 11-year record of 184–175. On March 22, the school hired Boston Celtics assistant coach, former Kentucky player and Evansville native Walter McCarty as head coach.[2]

Previous season[]

The Purple Aces finished the 2016–17 season 16–17, 6–12 to finish in eighth place in MVC play. They defeated Indiana State[3] in the MVC Tournament before losing to Illinois State in the quarterfinals.[4]

Offseason[]

Departures[]

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Christian Benzon 2 G 6'4" 195 Senior Copenhagen, Denmark Graduated
Jaylon Brown 3 G 6'0" 185 Senior Fishers, IN Graduated
Jaiveon Eaves 4 G 6'2" 200 Freshman Madisonville, KY Transferred to John A. Logan College
Sergej Vucetic 14 C 7'1" 238 RS Senior Vrbas, Serbia Graduated
Willie Wiley 23 F 6'7" 215 Senior Springfield, IL Graduated
David Howard 44 F 6'8" 225 RS Senior Nashville, TN Graduated

Incoming transfers[]

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Marty Hill 1 G 6'5" 170 Junior Champlin, MN Junior college transferred from Northeast CC

2017 recruiting class[]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Evan Kuhlman
PF 		Liberty Township, OH Lakota High School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) N/A Sep 12, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Noah Frederking
SG 		Okawville, IL Okawville High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Oct 22, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Preseason[]

In the conference's preseason poll, the Aces were picked to finish in ninth place in the MVC.[5] Junior guard Ryan Taylor was named to the preseason All-MVC second team.[5]

Roster[]

2017–18 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Ryan Taylor 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr St. John's Northwestern Military Academy
Ohio 		Gary, IN
G 1 Marty Hill 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Champlin Park
Northeast CC 		Brooklyn Park, MN
F 5 Solomon Hainna 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Palisades Charter
Midland College 		Inglewood, CA
F 10 Evan Kuhlman 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Lakota East Liberty Township, OH
G 12 Dru Smith 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Reitz Evansville, IN
F 14 Dainius Chatkevicius 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr
Vincennes 		Klaipėda, Lithuania
C 15 Dalen Traore 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Northwood Temple Academy
Miami Dade College 		Ivory Coast
G 25 Duane Gibson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Villa Angela-St. Joseph Cleveland, OH
G 30 Noah Frederking 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Okawville Okawville, IL
G 33 K. J. Riley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So
Howard College 		Bronx, NY
F 35 John Hall 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Fr Philadelphia, PA
G/F 50 Blake Simmons 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Castle Newburgh, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results[]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Arkansas State W 77–63  1–0
 Ford Center (3,622)
Evansville, IN
Nov 13, 2017*
11:00 am, ESPN3 		North Carolina Central W 68–55  2–0
 Ford Center (6,048)
Evansville, IN
Nov 16, 2017*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Southeast Missouri State
Cancún Challenge campus game 		W 66–50  3–0
 Ford Center (3,151)
Evansville, IN
Nov 18, 2017*
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Binghamton
Cancún Challenge campus game 		W 66–61  4–0
 Ford Center (3,167)
Evansville, IN
Nov 21, 2017*
7:30 pm, CBSSN 		vs. Fresno State
Cancún Challenge semifinals 		W 59–57  5–0
 Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (982)
Cancún, Mexico
Nov 22, 2017*
7:30 pm, CBSSN 		vs. Louisiana Tech
Cancún Challenge championship 		L 61–63  5–1
 Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (982)
Cancún, Mexico
Nov 29, 2017*
8:00 pm, ATTSNRM 		at New Mexico
MW–MVC Challenge 		L 59–78  5–2
 Dreamstyle Arena (8,943)
Albuquerque, NM
Dec 2, 2017*
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		Oakland City W 98–56  6–2
 Ford Center (3,213)
Evansville, IN
Dec 5, 2017*
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Bowling Green W 91–76  7–2
 Stroh Center (1,489)
Bowling Green, OH
Dec 9, 2017*
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		Canisius W 65–58  8–2
 Ford Center (3,363)
Evansville, IN
Dec 16, 2017*
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Austin Peay W 78–74 OT 9–2
 Ford Center (3,403)
Evansville, IN
Dec 17, 2017*
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Midway W 79–52  10–2
 Ford Center (3,010)
Evansville, IN
Dec 20, 2017*
6:00 pm, ESPN2 		at No. 4 Duke L 40–104  10–3
 Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
Durham, NC
Missouri Valley regular season
Dec 23, 2017
1:00 pm, NBCSC 		Illinois State L 66–72  10–4
(0–1) 		Ford Center (4,039)
Evansville, IN
Dec 30, 2017
3:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSC 		at Loyola–Chicago L 59–66  10–5
(0–2) 		Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,914)
Chicago, IL
Jan 3, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Southern Illinois L 63–65  10–6
(0–3) 		SIU Arena (4,622)
Carbondale, IL
Jan 6, 2018
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Bradley W 68–44  11–6
(1–3) 		Ford Center (4,171)
Evansville, IN
Jan 10, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Missouri State W 64–55  12–6
(2–3) 		Ford Center (3,237)
Evansville, IN
Jan 13, 2018
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Drake L 65–81  12–7
(2–4) 		Knapp Center (3,313)
Des Moines, IA
Jan 17, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Indiana State L 66–71  12–8
(2–5) 		Ford Center (3,601)
Evansville, IN
Jan 20, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Bradley L 53–66  12–9
(2–6) 		Carver Arena (6,205)
Peoria, IL
Jan 24, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Valparaiso W 75–65  13–9
(3–6) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (2,219)
Valparaiso, IN
Jan 27, 2018
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		Drake W 77–73  14–9
(4–6) 		Ford Center (4,295)
Evansville, IN
Jan 31, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Northern Iowa W 57–49  15–9
(5–6) 		Ford Center (3,352)
Evansville, IN
Feb 3, 2018
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Illinois State L 71–75  16–9
(5–7) 		Redbird Arena (6,923)
Normal, IL
Feb 7, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPn3 		Valparaiso W 63–59  16–10
(6–7) 		Ford Center (3,425)
Evansville, IN
Feb 10, 2018
2:00 pm 		at Missouri State L 55–72  16–11
(6–8) 		JQH Arena (3,358)
Springfield, MO
Feb 13, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Northern Iowa L 41–47  16–12
(6–9) 		McLeod Center (3,346)
Cedar Falls, IA
Feb 18, 2018
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Loyola–Chicago L 66–76  16–13
(6–10) 		Ford Center (4,887)
Evansville, IN
Feb 21, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Indiana State L 53–58  16–14
(6–11) 		Hulman Center (4,295)
Terre Haute, IN
Feb 24, 2018
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		Southern Illinois W 75–44  17–14
(7–11) 		Ford Center (4,312)
Evansville, IN
Mar 1, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		(8) vs. (9) Northern Iowa
First round 		L 50–60  17–15
 Scottrade Center (4,852)
St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[6][7]

References[]

  1. ^ Goodman, Jeff; Borzello, Jeff (March 13, 2018). "Sources: Marty Simmons out after 11 seasons at Evansville". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  2. ^ "Evansville hires Celtics' McCarty as coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  3. ^ Lyons, Joe. "Eighth-seeded Evansville cruises past Indiana State in MVC tourney". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  4. ^ "Evansville vs. Illinois State - Game Recap - March 3, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  5. ^ a b "Missouri State Picked to Win MVC Men's Basketball". Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  6. ^ "Evansville Purple Aces Basketball 2017-18 Schedule - Purple Aces Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  7. ^ "University of Evansville - 2017-18 Men's Basketball Schedule". gopurpleaces.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
Retrieved from ""