2015–16 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by ninth year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the Ford Center and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 12–6 in Missouri Valley play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Missouri State and Indiana State in the Missouri Valley tournament to advance to the championship game where they lost to Northern Iowa. Despite having 25 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

2015–16 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record25–9 (12–6 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaFord Center
Seasons
2015–16 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Wichita State 16 2   .889 26 9   .743
Evansville 12 6   .667 25 9   .735
Illinois State 12 6   .667 18 14   .563
Southern Illinois 11 7   .611 22 10   .688
Northern Iowa 11 7   .611 23 13   .639
Indiana State 8 10   .444 15 17   .469
Missouri State 8 10   .444 13 19   .406
Loyola Chicago 7 11   .389 15 17   .469
Bradley 3 15   .167 5 27   .156
Drake 2 16   .111 7 24   .226
2016 MVC tournament winner

Previous season

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The Purple Aces finished the 2014–15 season 24–12, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in fifth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley tournament to Illinois State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated IPFW, Eastern Illinois, Louisiana–Lafayette, TennesseeMartin, and Northern Arizona to become CIT champions.

Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Taylor Stafford 1 G 6'1" 170 Junior Duluth, MN Transferred to Western Washington
Jaylor Moore 10 F/C 6'7" 230 Senior Olive Branch, MS Graduated

Class of 2015 recruits

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Dainius Chatkevicius
PF
Orlando, FL West Oaks Academy 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) N/A 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Harris Brown
PG
Indianapolis, IN T.C. Howe High School 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) N/A Oct 18, 2014 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/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:

  • "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 4, 2015.

Roster

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2015–16 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 2 Christian Benzon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr The Rock School Copenhagen, Denmark
G 3 Jaylon Brown 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Fishers Fishers, IN
G 4 Duane Gibson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Villa Angela-St. Joseph Cleveland, OH
G 5 Mislav Brzoja 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Villanova Zagreb, Croatia
G 12 Adam Wing 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Rowan County Morehead, KY
G 13 Harris Brown 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Howe Indianapolis, IN
C 14 Sergej Vucetic 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 238 lb (108 kg) RS Jr Nebraska Vrbas, Serbia
F 22 Willie Wiley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Vincennes Springfield, IL
G 31 D. J. Balentine 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Kokomo Kokomo, IN
F/C 44 David Howard 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Montgomery Bell Nashville, TN
G/F 50 Blake Simmons 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Castle Newburgh, IN
C 55 Egidijus Mockevičius 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Lithuanian Edu. Sciences Kuršėnai, Lithuania
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

Schedule

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[1]

Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/07/2015*
3:00 pm, ESPN3
Wabash W 95–65 
Ford Center (3,813)
Evansville, IN
Non-conference regular season
11/15/2015*
2:00 pm, ESPN3
Southeast Missouri State W 80–65  1–0
Ford Center (3,893)
Evansville, IN
11/17/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Marian (IN) W 84–59  2–0
Ford Center (3,463)
Evansville, IN
11/21/2015*
12:30 pm, ESPN3
Belmont W 93–88  3–0
Ford Center (4,227)
Evansville, IN
11/26/2015*
8:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. Providence
Wooden Legacy quarterfinals
L 64–74  3–1
Titan Gym (2,460)
Fullerton, CA
11/27/2015*
8:00 pm, ESPN3
vs. Santa Clara
Wooden Legacy consolation round
W 69–57  4–1
Titan Gym (2,873)
Fullerton, CA
11/29/2015*
1:30 pm, ESPNU
vs. UC Irvine
Wooden Legacy 5th Place Game
W 75–56  5–1
Honda Center (4,393)
Anaheim, CA
12/01/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Alabama State W 88–56  6–1
Ford Center (3,702)
Evansville, IN
12/05/2015*
7:30 pm
at Murray State W 85–81 OT 7–1
CFSB Center (3,174)
Murray, KY
12/08/2015*
8:00 pm, SECN
at Arkansas L 76–89  7–2
Bud Walton Arena (13,980)
Fayetteville, AR
12/12/2015*
3:00 pm, ESPN3
Mississippi Valley State W 95–60  8–2
Ford Center (4,251)
Evansville, IN
12/17/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Norfolk State W 84–70  9–2
Ford Center (3,883)
Evansville, IN
12/20/2015*
3:00 pm
at Fresno State
MW–MVC Challenge
W 85–77  10–2
Save Mart Center (5,251)
Fresno, CA
12/22/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Alabama A&M W 91–70  11–2
Ford Center (4,746)
Evansville, IN
Missouri Valley regular season
12/30/2015
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Indiana State W 70–62  12–2
(1–0)
Ford Center (7,801)
Evansville, IN
01/02/2016
3:00 pm, ESPN3
at Missouri State W 76–59  13–2
(2–0)
JQH Arena (4,023)
Springfield, MO
01/06/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Wichita State L 64–67  13–3
(2–1)
Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
Wichita, KS
01/09/2016
3:00 pm, ESPN3
Bradley W 67–35  25–3
(3–1)
Ford Center (5,873)
Evansville, IN
01/12/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Drake W 84–65  15–3
(4–1)
Ford Center (4,011)
Evansville, IN
01/15/2016
8:00 pm, ESPN2
at Illinois State W 66–55  16–3
(5–1)
Redbird Arena (5,148)
Normal, IL
01/19/2016
8:00 pm, CBSSN
Loyola–Chicago W 74–66  17–3
(6–1)
Ford Center (4,014)
Evansville, IN
01/24/2016
3:00 pm, ESPNU
at Indiana State L 65–82  17–4
(6–2)
Hulman Center (4,630)
Terre Haute, IN
01/28/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Southern Illinois W 85–78 OT 18–4
(7–2)
SIU Arena (6,345)
Carbondale, IL
01/31/2016
3:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 22 Wichita State L 65–78  18–5
(7–3)
Ford Center (10,034)
Evansville, IN
02/03/2016
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Northern Iowa L 54–57  18–6
(7–4)
McLeod Center (4,805)
Cedar Falls, IA
02/06/2016
11:00 am, ESPN3
Missouri State W 83–64  19–6
(8–4)
Ford Center (4,556)
Evansville, IN
02/11/2016
8:00 pm, CBSSN
Illinois State L 60–70  19–7
(8–5)
Ford Center (4,195)
Evansville, IN
02/14/2016
3:00 pm, ESPNU
at Loyola–Chicago W 74–73  20–7
(9–5)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,257)
Chicago, IL
02/17/2016
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at Drake W 80–74  21–7
(10–5)
Knapp Center (2,790)
Des Moines, IA
02/20/2016
3:00 pm, ESPN3
Southern Illinois W 83–71  22–7
(11–5)
Ford Center (7,163)
Evansville, IN
02/23/2016
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at Bradley W 67–55  23–7
(12–5)
Carver Arena (5,523)
Peoria, IL
02/27/2016
1:00 pm, ESPN3
Northern Iowa L 52–54  23–8
(12–6)
Ford Center (6,552)
Evansville, IN
Missouri Valley tournament
03/04/2016
6:00 pm, ESPN3
vs. Missouri State
Quarterfinals
W 66–56  24–8
Scottrade Center (8,468)
St. Louis, MO
03/05/2016
5:00 pm, CBSSN
vs. Indiana State
Semifinals
W 68-42  25–8
Scottrade Center (14,299)
St. Louis, MO
03/06/2016
1:00 pm, CBS
vs. Northern Iowa
Championship game
L 54–56  25–9
Scottrade Center (14,299)
St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

References

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