The 2018–19 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by first-year head coach Walter McCarty, played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 11–21 overall, 5–13 in MVC play, and finishing in last place. As the No. 10 seed in the MVC tournament, they lost to Illinois State in the first round.

Previous season The Purple Aces finished the 2017–18 season 17–15, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place. As the No. 8 seed in the MVC tournament, they lost to Northern Iowa in the first round.

On March 13, 2018, Evansville fired head coach Marty Simmons. He finished at Evansville with an 11-year record of 184–175. On March 22, the school hired Boston Celtics assistant coach, former Kentucky player, and Evansville native Walter McCarty as head coach.

Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Ryan Taylor 0 G 6'6" 195 RS Junior Gary, IN Graduate transferred to Northwestern Solomon Hainna 5 G 6'6" 195 RS Senior Inglewood, CA Graduated Dru Smith 12 G 6'3" 190 Sophomore Evansville, IN Transferred to Missouri Dalen Traore 15 C 6'9" 230 Senior Ivory Coast Graduated Duane Gibson 25 G 6'3" 195 RS Senior Cleveland, OH Graduated Blake Simmons 50 G/F 6'5" 210 RS Senior Newburgh, IN Graduated

Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Artur Labinowicz 2 G 6'4" 190 Junior Charlotte, NC Transferred from Coastal Carolina. Under NCAA transfer rules, Labinowicz will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. Devan Straub 4 G 6'2" 190 RS Sophomore Evansville, IN Transferred from Indiana Kokomo. Will be eligible to play. Will join the team as a walk-on. Shea Feehan 21 G 6'0" 155 RS Senior Peoria, IL Transferred from Eureka College. Will be eligible to play immediately since Feehan graduated from Eureka. Sam Cunliffe 24 G 6'6" 200 Junior Seattle, WA Transferred from Kansas. Under NCAA transfer rules, Cunliffe will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

2018 recruiting class

2019 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition

!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season

!colspan=9 style=| Missouri Valley regular season

!colspan=9 style=| Missouri Valley tournament

Source

References