# 2014–15 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

The 2014–15 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by eighth 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 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, UT Martin, and Northern Arizona to become CIT champions.

## Previous season

The Purple Aces finished the season 14–19, 6–12 in MVC play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley tournament where they lost to Wichita State.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ryan Sawvell | 0 | F/C | 6'8" | 200 | Junior | Mundelein, IL | Transferred to Wofford |
| Tyler Ptacek | 22 | G | 6'3" | 175 | Freshman | Parma, OH | Transferred |
| Mike Leazer | 23 | G | 6'3" | 170 | Sophomore | Mount Prospect, IL | Transferred to Wisconsin–Parkside |
| Rokas Cesnulevicius | 25 | F/C | 6'8" | 215 | Junior | Alytus, Lithuania | Injured |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Taylor Stafford | 1 | G | 6'0" | 170 | Junior | Duluth, MN | Junior college transfer from Eastern Arizona College. |
| Sergej Vucetic | 14 | C | 7'1" | 236 | Junior | Vrbas, Serbia | Transferred from Nebraska. Under NCAA transfer rules, Vucetic will have to redshirt for the 2014–15 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Willie Wiley | 22 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Springfield, IL | Junior college transfer from Vincennes. |

### Class of 2015 recruits

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: 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 23, 2014. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| 11/01/2014* 1:05 pm | McKendree | W 88–60 | | Ford Center (2,722) Evansville, IN |
| 11/08/2014* 3:05 pm | Wabash | W 95–50 | | Ford Center (3,936) Evansville, IN |
| Regular season |||||
| 11/15/2014* 2:05 pm | Earlham | W 116–45 | 1–0 | Ford Center (4,238) Evansville, IN |
| 11/19/2014* 6:00 pm | at Miami (OH) | W 69–50 | 2–0 | Millett Hall (826) Oxford, OH |
| 11/24/2014* 1:30 pm | vs. Fresno State Gulf Coast Classic quarterfinals | W 58–52 | 3–0 | Germain Arena (2,118) Estero, FL |
| 11/25/2014* 5:00 pm | vs. Green Bay Gulf Coast Classic semifinals | L 62–64 | 3–1 | Germain Arena (3,027) Estero, FL |
| 11/26/2014* 5:00 pm | vs. San Francisco Gulf Coast Classic 3rd place game | W 79–72 | 4–1 | Germain Arena (3,867) Estero, FL |
| 12/02/2014* 7:05 pm | Wright State | W 86–72 | 5–1 | Ford Center (3,291) Evansville, IN |
| 12/06/2014* 7:05 pm | IUPUI | W 89–62 | 6–1 | Ford Center (3,889) Evansville, IN |
| 12/09/2014* 7:00 pm | at Belmont | W 65–62 | 7–1 | Curb Event Center (1,160) Nashville, TN |
| 12/13/2014* 1:05 pm | Murray State | L 79–81 | 7–2 | Ford Center (5,083) Evansville, IN |
| 12/18/2014* 8:05 pm | Ohio | W 81–69 | 8–2 | Ford Center (3,610) Evansville, IN |
| 12/21/2014* 1:05 pm | Alabama State | W 81–63 | 9–2 | Ford Center (3,861) Evansville, IN |
| 12/28/2014* 1:05 pm | Coppin State | W 85–80 | 10–2 | Ford Center (4,329) Evansville, IN |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season |||||
| 01/01/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 23 Northern Iowa | W 52–49 | 11–2 (1–0) | Ford Center (5,151) Evansville, IN |
| 01/04/2015 12:30 pm, ESPN3 | at Indiana State | L 75–79 | 11–3 (1–1) | Hulman Center (3,948) Terre Haute, IN |
| 01/07/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Loyola–Chicago | L 70–71 | 11–4 (1–2) | Ford Center (4,321) Evansville, IN |
| 01/10/2015 1:00 pm | at Bradley | W 66–56 | 12–4 (2–2) | Carver Arena (5,614) Peoria, IL |
| 01/14/2015 1:00 pm | at Missouri State | W 56–54 | 13–4 (3–2) | JQH Arena (5,097) Springfield, MO |
| 01/17/2015 1:00 pm | No. 13 Wichita State | L 41–61 | 13–5 (3–3) | Ford Center (7,015) Evansville, IN |
| 01/21/2015 7:00 pm | at Loyola–Chicago | W 65–56 | 14–5 (4–3) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,278) Chicago, IL |
| 01/24/2015 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | Southern Illinois | W 75–66 | 15–5 (5–3) | Ford Center (5,521) Evansville, IN |
| 01/27/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Indiana State | W 89–78 | 16–5 (6–3) | Ford Center (4,054) Evansville, IN |
| 01/31/2015 2:00 pm | at Drake | L 65–70 | 16–6 (6–4) | Knapp Center (4,120) Des Moines, IA |
| 02/03/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Illinois State | L 51–77 | 16–7 (6–5) | Redbird Arena (4,352) Normal, IL |
| 02/07/2015 1:00 pm | Bradley | L 53–56 | 16–8 (6–6) | Ford Center (4,106) Evansville, IN |
| 02/10/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Missouri State | W 73–66 | 17–8 (7–6) | Ford Center (3,502) Evansville, IN |
| 02/14/2015 3:00 pm | at Southern Illinois | W 72–64 | 18–8 (8–6) | SIU Arena (5,265) Carbondale, IL |
| 02/17/2015 7:00 pm | Drake | W 61–52 | 19–8 (9–6) | Ford Center (3,418) Evansville, IN |
| 02/22/2015 3:00 pm, ESPNU | at No. 13 Wichita State | L 43–62 | 19–9 (9–7) | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| 02/25/2015 8:00 pm | at Northern Iowa | L 57–68 | 19–10 (9–8) | McLeod Center (6,935) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/28/2015 1:00 pm | Illinois State | L 67–69 $^{OT}$ | 19–11 (9–9) | Ford Center (5,491) Evansville, IN |
| Missouri Valley tournament |||||
| 03/06/2015 2:35 pm, MVC TV/ESPN3 | vs. Illinois State Quarterfinals | L 67–71 | 19–12 | Scottrade Center (9,015) St. Louis, MO |
| CIT |||||
| 03/18/2015* 7:00 pm | IPFW First round | W 82–77 | 20–12 | Ford Center (1,826) Evansville, IN |
| 03/23/2015* 7:00 pm | at Eastern Illinois Second round | W 83–68 | 21–12 | Lantz Arena (2,404) Charleston, IL |
| 03/26/2015* 7:30 pm | at Louisiana–Lafayette Quarterfinals | W 89–82 | 22–12 | Blackham Coliseum (3,541) Lafayette, LA |
| 03/31/2015* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | Tennessee–Martin Semifinals | W 79–66 | 23–12 | Ford Center (3,008) Evansville, IN |
| 04/02/2015* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | Northern Arizona Championship game | W 71–65 | 24–12 | Ford Center (4,549) Evansville, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||