2023–24 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by second-year head coach David Ragland, played their home games at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).

2023–24 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
CBI, quarterfinals
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	17–18 (6–14 MVC)
Head coach	David Ragland (2nd season)
Associate head coach	Craig Snow
Assistant coaches	George Swanson Roosevelt Jones Peter Funk
Home arena	Ford Center
Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Indiana State	17	–	3		.850			32	–	7		.821
Drake †	16	–	4		.800			28	–	7		.800
Bradley	13	–	7		.650			23	–	12		.657
Northern Iowa	12	–	8		.600			19	–	14		.576
Belmont	12	–	8		.600			20	–	13		.606
Southern Illinois	11	–	9		.550			19	–	13		.594
Illinois State	9	–	11		.450			15	–	17		.469
Murray State	9	–	11		.450			12	–	20		.375
Missouri State	8	–	12		.400			17	–	16		.515
Evansville	6	–	14		.300			17	–	18		.486
UIC	4	–	16		.200			12	–	21		.364
Valparaiso	3	–	17		.150			7	–	25		.219
† 2024 MVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Purple Aces finished the 2022–23 season 5–27, 1–19 in MVC play, to finish in last place.^[1] They lost to Indiana State in the first round of the MVC tournament.^[2]

Roster

2023–24 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Gage Bobe 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr South Knox High School Vincennes, IN G 1 Tanner Cuff 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Jr Salt Lake Community College American Fork, UT G 2 Antonio Thomas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Kentucky Wesleyan Memphis, TN G 3 Cam Haffner 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Eastern Illinois Westfield, IN G 4 Chuck Bailey III 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Fr Hamtramck High School Detroit, MI G 5 Braylon Jackson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Fr Oldsmar Christian Academy Kennesaw, GA F 10 Yacine Toumi 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Indian Hills Community College Meudon, France F 11 Joshua Hughes 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) — Fr Australian Institute of Sport Sydney, Australia G 12 Tyler Myers 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) — Fr Evansville Day School Evansville, IN G/F 13 Ben Humrichous 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Sr Huntington Tipton, IN G 14 Gui Tesch 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Fr IMG Academy Rio de Janeiro, Brazil G 20 Kenny Strawbridge Jr. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Sr Alabama State Rockford, IL F 22 Sekou Kalle 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 224 lb (102 kg) Jr Akron Louisville, KY G 23 Cameron Gehlhausen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So Evansville North High School Evansville, IN F 32 Dakota Candler 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Fr South Knox High School Vincennes, IN C 33 Michael Day 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) — Fr Albuquerque Basketball Club Prep Middleton, ID G 40 Weston Aigner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Fr Castle High School Newburgh, IN	Head coach David Ragland (Evansville) Assistant coach(es) Craig Snow (Evansville) George Swanson (Northwest) Roosevelt Jones (Butler) Peter Funk (Valparaiso) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 17, 2023

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 28, 2023* 1:00 p.m.		Wabash	W 76–66	–	Ford Center (3,027) Evansville, IN
Regular season
November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Miami (OH)	W 72–64	1–0	Ford Center (3,147) Evansville, IN
November 9, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UHSP	W 116–46	2–0	Ford Center (2,817) Evansville, IN
November 15, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Southeast Missouri State	W 76–57	3–0	Show Me Center (1,023) Cape Girardeau, MO
November 18, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Ball State	W 74–50	4–0	Ford Center (5,172) Evansville, IN
November 24, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Chattanooga Coke Zero Sugar Classic	W 85–77 OT	5–0	McKenzie Arena (3,148) Chattanooga, TN
November 25, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Southeast Missouri State Coke Zero Sugar Classic	W 93–74	6–0	McKenzie Arena (2,163) Chattanooga, TN
November 29, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Missouri State	L 78–90	6–1 (0–1)	Great Southern Bank Arena (3,692) Springfield, MO
December 2, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Northern Iowa	W 91–89 OT	7–1 (1–1)	Ford Center (5,014) Evansville, IN
December 5, 2023* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 14 BYU	L 55–96	7–2	Marriott Center (13,291) Provo, UT
December 16, 2023* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Bellarmine	W 70–61	8–2	Freedom Hall (2,438) Louisville, KY
December 18, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UT Martin	W 98–91	9–2	Ford Center (4,112) Evansville, IN
December 20, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tennessee Tech	W 82–51	10–2	Ford Center (4,715) Evansville, IN
December 29, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Cincinnati	L 58–76	10–3	Fifth Third Arena (10,977) Cincinnati, OH
January 3, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Indiana State	L 73–87	10–4 (1–2)	Hulman Center (4,457) Terre Haute, IN
January 6, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Murray State	L 59–81	10–5 (1–3)	Ford Center (7,928) Evansville, IN
January 10, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Bradley	L 50–86	10–6 (1–4)	Carver Arena (4,093) Peoria, IL
January 13, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Missouri State	L 64–74	10–7 (1–5)	Ford Center (3,978) Evansville, IN
January 17, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Valparaiso	W 78–75	11–7 (2–5)	Ford Center (4,080) Evansville, IN
January 20, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Drake	L 48–97	11–8 (2–6)	Knapp Center (3,717) Des Moines, IA
January 23, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Northern Iowa	L 63–70	11–9 (2–7)	McLeod Center (3,257) Cedar Falls, IA
January 27, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Illinois State	W 58–54	12–9 (3–7)	Ford Center (4,010) Evansville, IN
January 31, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UIC	W 77–60	13–9 (4–7)	Ford Center (3,679) Evansville, IN
February 3, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Valparaiso	W 63–62	14–9 (5–7)	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,807) Valparaiso, IN
February 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Bradley	W 73–70	15–9 (6–7)	Ford Center (3,542) Evansville, IN
February 10, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Murray State	L 70–73	15–10 (6–8)	CFSB Center (5,517) Murray, KY
February 13, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Drake	L 75–78	15–11 (6–9)	Ford Center (3,568) Evansville, IN
February 18, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Illinois State	L 79–86	15–12 (6–10)	CEFCU Arena (6,072) Normal, IL
February 21, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UIC	L 79–88	15–13 (6–11)	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,918) Chicago, IL
February 25, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Southern Illinois	L 53–65	15–14 (6–12)	Ford Center (5,669) Evansville, IN
February 28, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Indiana State	L 67–85	15–15 (6–13)	Ford Center (6,419) Evansville, IN
March 3, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Belmont	L 66–83	15–16 (6–14)	Curb Event Center (2,437) Nashville, TN
MVC tournament
March 7, 2024 6:00 p.m., MVC TV	(10)	vs. (7) Illinois State Opening round	W 59–53	16–16	Enterprise Center  St. Louis, MO
March 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., MVC TV	(10)	vs. (2) Drake Quarterfinals	L 58–79	16–17	Enterprise Center  St. Louis, MO
CBI
March 24, 2024 4:30 p.m., FloHoops	(11)	vs. (6) Quinnipiac First round	W 64–63	17–17	Ocean Center (829) Daytona Beach, FL
March 25, 2024 5:30 p.m., FloHoops	(11)	vs. (3) Seattle Quarterfinals	L 57–71	17–18	Ocean Center (724) Daytona Beach, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[3][4]

References

1. "2022-23 Men's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
2. "Men's basketball season comes to an end in St. Louis". University of Evansville Athletics. March 2, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
3. "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Evansville Athletics. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
4. "Evansville Purple Aces Schedule 2023-24". ESPN. Retrieved November 17, 2023.