# 2018–19 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by third-year head coach Matt Lottich, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as second-year members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 15–18, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a tie for eighth place. As the No. 9 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Indiana State in the first round before losing to Loyola in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Crusaders finished the 2017–18 season 15–17, 6–12 in MVC play to finish in last place in their first season as members of the MVC. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley tournament to Missouri State.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Parker Hazen | 0 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Freshman | Columbia City, IN | Transferred to Daytona State College |
| Tevonn Walker | 2 | G | 6'2" | 210 | Senior | Montreal, QC | Graduated |
| Max Joseph | 3 | G | 6'1" | 210 | Senior | Montreal, QC | Graduated |
| Joe Burton | 10 | G/F | 6'8" | 210 | RS Junior | Porter, TX | Left the team for personal reasons; transferred to Georgetown |
| Marten Linssen | 12 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Freshman | Düsseldorf, Germany | Transferred to UNC Wilmington |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Deion Lavender | 2 | G | 6'4" | 190 | RS Senior | Alton, IL | Transferred from UAB. Was eligible to play immediately since Lavender graduated from UAB. |
| Eron Gordon | | G | 6'3" | 200 | Junior | Indianapolis, IN | Transferred from Seton Hall. Under NCAA transfer rules, Gordon had to sit out for the 2018–19 season, after which he had two years of eligibility. |
| Nick Robinson | | G | 6'6" | 195 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Transferred from Saint Joseph's. Under NCAA transfer rules, Robinson had to sit out for the 2018–19 season, after which he had two years of eligibility. |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Javon Freeman-Liberty #41 SG | Chicago, IL | Whitney Young | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Daniel Sackey PG | Winnipeg, Canada | Thornlea Secondary School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| 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: ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 1, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Indianapolis | W 60–57 | | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,256) Valparaiso, IN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Concordia University Chicago | W 121–65 | 1–0 | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,098) Valparaiso, IN |
| Nov 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Western Kentucky Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinals | L 71-83 | 1–1 | HTC Center (3,620) Conway, SC |
| Nov 16, 2018* 5:30 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Monmouth Myrtle Beach Invitational consolation 2nd round | W 64–53 | 2–1 | HTC Center (2,830) Conway, SC |
| Nov 18, 2018* 9:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. Wake Forest Myrtle Beach Invitational consolation 5th place game | L 63-69 | 2–2 | HTC Center (639) Conway, SC |
| Nov 21, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | SIU Edwardsville | W 75–70 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | Athletics–Recreation Center (1,940) Valparaiso, IN |
| Nov 24, 2018* 1:00 pm, ATTSPT | | at West Virginia Myrtle Beach Invitational non-bracket game | L 76–88 | 3–3 | WVU Coliseum (9,188) Morgantown, WV |
| Nov 28, 2018* 9:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | at UNLV MW–MVC Challenge | W 72–64 | 4–3 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,587) Las Vegas, NV |
| Dec 2, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UC Riverside | W 82–73 | 5–3 | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,112) Valparaiso, IN |
| Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | High Point | L 53–55 | 5–4 | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,479) Valparaiso, IN |
| Dec 8, 2018* 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at George Washington | W 82–79 | 6–4 | Charles E. Smith Center (2,107) Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 17, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Ball State | L 61–77 | 6–5 | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,636) Valparaiso, IN |
| Dec 19, 2018* 7:30 pm, SECN+ | | at Texas A&M | L 41-79 | 6–6 | Reed Arena (6,684) College Station, TX |
| Dec 29, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Purdue Northwest | W 97–61 | 7–6 | Athletics–Recreation Center (1,925) Valparaiso, IN |
| MVC regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Illinois State | W 58–56 | 8–6 (1–0) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,818) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 5, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Missouri State | W 82–66 | 9–6 (2–0) | JQH Arena (4,179) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Bradley | W 61–50 | 10–6 (3–0) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,535) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 12, 2019 3:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSCH | | at Southern Illinois | W 65–61 | 11–6 (4–0) | SIU Arena (4,671) Carbondale, IL |
| Jan 15, 2019 7:00 pm, NBCSCH | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 54-71 | 11–7 (4–1) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,412) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 19, 2019 3:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSCH | | Northern Iowa | W 75–66 | 12–7 (5–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,160) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 23, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | L 53-70 | 12–8 (5–2) | Hulman Center (3,460) Terre Haute, IN |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Drake | L 59-70 | 12–9 (5–3) | Athletics–Recreation Center (4,160) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 29, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Missouri State | L 54-55 $^{OT}$ | 12–10 (5–4) | Athletics–Recreation Center (1,333) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 2, 2019 1:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSCH | | at Evansville | L 53–64 | 12–11 (5–5) | Ford Center (5,805) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | W 69–53 | 13–11 (6–5) | Redbird Arena (4,662) Bloomington, IL |
| Feb 10, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | Loyola–Chicago | L 51–56 | 13–12 (6–6) | Athletics–Recreation Center (5,148) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | L 82-87 $^{OT}$ | 13–13 (6–7) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,014) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 16, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | L 79-84 | 13–14 (6–8) | Knapp Center (4,035) Des Moines, IA |
| Feb 20, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Southern Illinois | W 55–52 | 14–14 (7–8) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,371) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 23, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | L 53-64 | 14–15 (7–9) | McLeod Center (3,812) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Feb 27, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Bradley | L 42-67 | 14–16 (7–10) | Carver Arena (5,867) Peoria, IL |
| Mar 2, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Evansville | L 63-65 | 14–17 (7–11) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,592) Valparaiso, IN |
| MVC tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | (9) | vs. (8) Indiana State First Round | W 77–55 | 15–17 | Enterprise Center (0) St. Louis, MO |
| Mar 8, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | (9) | vs. (1) Loyola-Chicago First Round | L 54-67 | 15-18 | Enterprise Center (0) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source