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.

2014–15 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
CIT champions
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record24–12 (9–9 The Valley)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaFord Center
Seasons
2014–15 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 14 Wichita State 17 1   .944 30 5   .857
No. 11 Northern Iowa 16 2   .889 31 4   .886
Indiana State 11 7   .611 15 16   .484
Illinois State 11 7   .611 22 13   .629
Evansville 9 9   .500 24 12   .667
Loyola Chicago 8 10   .444 24 13   .649
Drake 6 12   .333 9 22   .290
Missouri State 5 13   .278 11 20   .355
Southern Illinois 4 14   .222 12 21   .364
Bradley 3 15   .167 9 24   .273
2015 MVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

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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

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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

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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

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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
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.

Roster

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2014–15 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Taylor Stafford 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Eastern Arizona College Duluth, MN
G 2 Christian Benzon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So The Rock School Gainesville, FL
G 3 Jaylon Brown 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Fishers Fishers, IN
G 4 Duane Gibson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Villa Angela-St. Joseph Cleveland, OH
G 5 Mislav Brzoja 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS So Villanova Zagreb, Croatia
F/C 10 Jaylon Moore 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Olive Branch Olive Branch, MS
G 12 Adam Wing 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Rowan County Morehead, KY
C 14 Sergej Vucetic   7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 238 lb (108 kg) Jr Nebraska Vrbas, Serbia
F 22 Willie Wiley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Vincennes Springfield, IL
G 31 D. J. Balentine 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Kokomo Kokomo, IN
F/C 44 David Howard 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS So Montgomery Bell Nashville, TN
G/F 50 Blake Simmons 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Castle Newburgh, IN
C 55 Egidijus Mockevičius 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr 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
11/01/2014*
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.

References

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