# 2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by 10th-year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 16–17, 6–12 to finish in eighth place in MVC play. They defeated Indiana State in the MVC tournament before losing to Illinois State in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Purple Aces finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 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.

## Preseason

Evansville was picked to finish ninth in the conference's preseason poll.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Mislav Brzoja | 5 | G | 6'4" | 215 | RS Junior | Zagreb, Croatia | Playing professional overseas in Europe |
| Adam Wing | 12 | G | 6'4" | 205 | Senior | Morehead, KY | Graduated |
| Harris Brown | 13 | G | 5'11" | 175 | Freshman | Indianapolis, IN | Transferred to Dodge City CC |
| D. J. Balentine | 31 | G | 6'2" | 210 | Senior | Kokomo, IN | Graduated |
| Egidijus Mockevičius | 55 | C | 6'10" | 225 | Senior | Kuršėnai, Lithuania | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Dalen Traore | 15 | C | 6'9" | 250 | Junior | Ivory Coast | Junior college transferred from Miami Dade College. |

### 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Silas Adheke #40 C | Chattanooga, TN | Hamilton Heights Christian Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Dru Smith SG | Evansville, IN | Reitz Memorial High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Sep 23, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jaiveon Eaves SG | Madisonville, KY | Madisonville North Hopkins High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| John Hall SF | Philadelphia, PA | Standard of Excellence Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | |
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm, ACC Extra | | at No. 13 Louisville | L 47–78 | 0–1 | KFC Yum! Center (21,129) Louisville, KY |
| 11/14/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Alcorn State | W 82–59 | 1–1 | Ford Center (3,669) Evansville, IN |
| 11/19/2016* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Morehead State | W 69–56 | 2–1 | Ford Center (3,386) Evansville, IN |
| 11/25/2016* 5:00 pm | | vs. Toledo Challenge in Music City | L 79–83 $^{2OT}$ | 2–2 | Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN |
| 11/26/2016* 5:00 pm | | vs. UNC Wilmington Challenge in Music City | L 62–65 | 2–3 | Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN |
| 11/27/2016* 5:30 pm | | vs. Middle Tennessee Challenge in Music City | L 55–66 | 2–4 | Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wabash | W 83–39 | 3–4 | Ford Center (3,234) Evansville, IN |
| 12/03/2016* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Boise State MW–MVC Challenge | W 72–67 | 4–4 | Ford Center (3,773) Evansville, IN |
| 12/06/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Bowling Green | W 69–66 | 5–4 | Ford Center (3,513) Evansville, IN |
| 12/10/2016* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Murray State | W 78–46 | 6–4 | Ford Center (5,016) Evansville, IN |
| 12/14/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Norfolk State | W 85–66 | 7–4 | Ford Center (3,312) Evansville, IN |
| 12/17/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Austin Peay | W 77–69 | 8–4 | Dunn Center (1,428) Clarksville, TN |
| 12/22/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Mount St. Joseph | W 68–55 | 9–4 | Ford Center (4,017) Evansville, IN |
| Missouri Valley regular season ||||||
| 12/30/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Illinois State | L 50–62 | 9–4 (0–1) | Redbird Arena (5,415) Bloomington, IL |
| 01/01/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Iowa | W 70–58 | 10–4 (1–1) | Ford Center (5,277) Evansville, IN |
| 01/04/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Bradley | L 63–74 | 10–6 (1–2) | Ford Center (3,614) Evansville, IN |
| 01/08/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | L 76–88 | 10–7 (1–3) | Knapp Center (2,688) Des Moines, IA |
| 01/11/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Missouri State | L 51–55 | 10–8 (1–4) | JQH Arena (3,253) Springfield, MO |
| 01/14/2017 1:00 pm, FSMW/CSNCH/ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | L 61–73 | 10–9 (1–5) | Ford Center (4,803) Evansville, IN |
| 01/17/2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Wichita State | L 65–82 | 10–10 (1–6) | Ford Center (4,019) Evansville, IN |
| 01/21/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 61–67 | 10–11 (1–7) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,006) Chicago, IL |
| 01/25/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | L 54–61 | 10–12 (1–8) | McLeod Center (3,782) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/29/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Illinois State | L 59–69 | 10–13 (1–9) | Ford Center (5,428) Evansville, IN |
| 02/01/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | L 84–85 $^{OT}$ | 10–14 (1–10) | Hulman Center (3,669) Terre Haute, IN |
| 02/04/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Missouri State | W 74–66 | 11–14 (2–10) | Ford Center (4,467) Evansville, IN |
| 02/08/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Loyola–Chicago | W 60–58 | 12–14 (3–10) | Ford Center (3,436) Evansville, IN |
| 02/11/2017 3:00 pm, FSMW/CSNCH/ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | W 75–70 | 13–14 (4–10) | SIU Arena (5,490) Carbondale, IL |
| 02/14/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Drake | W 87–70 | 14–14 (5–10) | Ford Center (3,639) Evansville, IN |
| 02/18/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bradley | L 72–84 | 14–15 (5–11) | Carver Arena (5,968) Peoria, IL |
| 02/21/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at No. 25 Wichita State | L 83–109 | 14–16 (5–12) | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| 02/25/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 65–63 | 15–16 (6–12) | Ford Center (4,913) Evansville, IN |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| 03/02/2017 6:05 pm, ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC | (8) | vs. (9) Indiana State First Round | W 83–72 | 16–16 | Scottrade Center (5,057) St. Louis, MO |
| 03/03/2017 12:00 pm, ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC | (8) | vs. (1) Illinois State Quarterfinals | L 69–80 | 16–17 | Scottrade Center (8,648) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
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