# 2018–19 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by first-year head coach Walter McCarty, played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 11–21 overall, 5–13 in MVC play, and finishing in last place. As the No. 10 seed in the MVC tournament, they lost to Illinois State in the first round.

## Previous season

The Purple Aces finished the 2017–18 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. 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.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Ryan Taylor | 0 | G | 6'6" | 195 | RS Junior | Gary, IN | Graduate transferred to Northwestern |
| Solomon Hainna | 5 | G | 6'6" | 195 | RS Senior | Inglewood, CA | Graduated |
| Dru Smith | 12 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Sophomore | Evansville, IN | Transferred to Missouri |
| Dalen Traore | 15 | C | 6'9" | 230 | Senior | Ivory Coast | Graduated |
| Duane Gibson | 25 | G | 6'3" | 195 | RS Senior | Cleveland, OH | Graduated |
| Blake Simmons | 50 | G/F | 6'5" | 210 | RS Senior | Newburgh, IN | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Artur Labinowicz | 2 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Charlotte, NC | Transferred from Coastal Carolina. Under NCAA transfer rules, Labinowicz will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Devan Straub | 4 | G | 6'2" | 190 | RS Sophomore | Evansville, IN | Transferred from Indiana Kokomo. Will be eligible to play. Will join the team as a walk-on. |
| Shea Feehan | 21 | G | 6'0" | 155 | RS Senior | Peoria, IL | Transferred from Eureka College. Will be eligible to play immediately since Feehan graduated from Eureka. |
| Sam Cunliffe | 24 | G | 6'6" | 200 | Junior | Seattle, WA | Transferred from Kansas. Under NCAA transfer rules, Cunliffe will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| DeAndre Williams #42 SF | Houston, TX | Klein Forest High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Apr 14, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Will Becker #57 PF | Aurora, CO | Smokey Hill High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 17, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 65 ||||||
| Shamar Givance PG | Toronto, ON | First Love Christian Academy | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A | May 1, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jawaun Newton SG | El Paso, TX | Burges High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 8, 2018 |
| 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Marcus Henderson PG | Charlotte, NC | United Faith Christian Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | Oct 10, 2018 |
| 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 3, 2018* 2:00 pm | | New Mexico Highlands | W 83–61 | | Ford Center (4,460) Evansville, IN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 8, 2018* 8:00 pm, BTN Plus | | at Illinois Maui on the Mainland | L 60–99 | 0–1 | State Farm Center (11,755) Champaign, IL |
| Nov 10, 2018* 4:00 pm, FSN | | at Xavier Maui on the Mainland | L 85–91 | 0–2 | Cintas Center (10,533) Cincinnati, OH |
| Nov 15, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Kentucky Wesleyan Maui on the Mainland | W 92–72 | 1–2 | Ford Center (4,497) Evansville, IN |
| Nov 18, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Texas Southern Maui on the Mainland | W 85–63 | 2–2 | Ford Center (4,578) Evansville, IN |
| Nov 24, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ball State | L 72–82 | 2–3 | Worthen Arena (3,224) Muncie, IN |
| Nov 28, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Wyoming MW–MVC Challenge | W 86–78 | 3–3 | Ford Center (4,709) Evansville, IN |
| Dec 1, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Albion | W 65–49 | 4–3 | Ford Center (4,337) Evansville, IN |
| Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Arkansas State | L 77–87 | 4–4 | First National Bank Arena (1,037) Jonesboro, AR |
| Dec 9, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Ball State | W 89–77 | 5–4 | Ford Center (5,672) Evansville, IN |
| Dec 15, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Jacksonville State | L 50–55 | 5–5 | Ford Center (4,814) Evansville, IN |
| Dec 18, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Murray State | L 64–66 | 5–6 | CFSB Center (4,099) Murray, KY |
| Dec 22, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Green Bay | W 80–75 | 6–6 | Ford Center (5,011) Evansville, IN |
| Dec 30, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Miami (OH) | L 67–70 | 6–7 | Millett Hall (1,456) Oxford, OH |
| Missouri Valley regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Drake | W 82–77 | 7–7 (1–0) | Ford Center (5,503) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 5, 2019 3:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSCH | | at Illinois State | L 46–58 | 7–8 (1–1) | Redbird Arena (5,643) Normal, IN |
| Jan 8, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Loyola–Chicago | W 67–48 | 8–8 (2–1) | Ford Center (5,049) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 12, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | L 66–72 | 8–9 (2–2) | Ford Center (6,419) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 16, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | W 70–64 | 9–9 (3–2) | JQH Arena (4,923) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 19, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Illinois State | L 70–78 | 9–10 (3–3) | Ford Center (5,731) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 23, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Drake | L 66–78 | 9–11 (3–4) | Knapp Center (2,709) Des Moines, IA |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | L 74–81 | 9–12 (3–5) | McLeod Center (3,677) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Jan 30, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Bradley | L 73–81 | 9–13 (3–6) | Ford Center (5,019) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 2, 2019 1:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSCH | | Valparaiso | W 64–53 | 10–13 (4–6) | Ford Center (5,805) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 6, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Indiana State | L 62–85 | 10–14 (4–7) | Hulman Center (3,469) Terre Haute, IN |
| Feb 9, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Southern Illinois | L 73–78 | 10–15 (4–8) | SIU Arena (4,923) Carbondale, IL |
| Feb 13, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Missouri State | L 56–68 | 10–16 (4–9) | Ford Center (5,289) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 17, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Iowa | L 58–73 | 10–17 (4–10) | Ford Center (6,148) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 20, 2019 6:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCH | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 58–70 | 10–18 (4–11) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,204) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 23, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Bradley | L 61–63 | 10–19 (4–12) | Carver Arena (6,571) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 27, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Southern Illinois | L 91–98 | 10–20 (4–13) | Ford Center (6,198) Evansville, IN |
| Mar 2, 2019 TBA, CBSSN/ESPN2 | | at Valparaiso | W 65–63 | 11–20 (5–13) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,592) Valparaiso, IN |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2019 | (10) | vs. (7) Illinois State First round | L 60–65 | 11–21 | Enterprise Center (5,004) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source