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2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

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2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record16–17 (6–12 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaFord Center
Seasons
2016–17 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Illinois State 17 1   .944 28 7   .800
No. 19 Wichita State 17 1   .944 31 5   .861
Northern Iowa 9 9   .500 14 16   .467
Southern Illinois 9 9   .500 17 16   .515
Loyola Chicago 8 10   .444 18 14   .563
Missouri State 7 11   .389 17 16   .515
Bradley 7 11   .389 13 20   .394
Evansville 6 12   .333 16 17   .485
Indiana State 5 13   .278 11 20   .355
Drake 5 13   .278 7 24   .226
2017 MVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

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

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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

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Evansville was picked to finish ninth in the conference's preseason poll.[1]

Offseason

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Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Mislav Brzoja 5 G 6'4" 215 RS Junior Zagreb, Croatia Playing professional overseas in Europe[2]
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

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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

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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: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/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: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/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: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/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: 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:

  • "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

[edit]
2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 2 Christian Benzon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr The Rock School Copenhagen, Denmark
G 3 Jaylon Brown 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Fishers Fishers, IN
G 4 Jaiveon Eaves 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Madisonville-North Hopkins Madisonville, KY
F 5 Solomon Hainna 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Palisades Charter
Midland College
Inglewood, CA
G 12 Dru Smith 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Reitz Evansville, IN
C 14 Sergej Vucetic 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 238 lb (108 kg) RS Sr Aim
Nebraska
Vrbas, Serbia
C 15 Dalen Traore 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Northwood Temple Academy
Miami Dade College
Ivory Coast
F 23 Willie Wiley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Vincennes Springfield, IL
G 25 Duane Gibson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Villa Angela-St. Joseph Cleveland, OH
F 35 John Hall 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Standard of Excellence Philadelphia, PA
F 44 David Howard 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Sr Montgomery Bell Nashville, TN
G/F 50 Blake Simmons 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Castle Newburgh, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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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.

Source[3]

References

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  1. ^ TN, Streamline Technologies - Nashville. "Shockers Tabbed as MVC Men's Hoops Favorite". Missouri Valley Conference. Archived from the original on October 28, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  2. ^ "Brzoja to leave Evansville, pursue pro hoops career in Europe". Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  3. ^ "2021-22 Men's Basketball Schedule".