| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 2017–18 |
| Team: | Evansville Purple Aces |
| Conference: | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Short Conf: | MVC |
| Record: | 17–15 |
| Conf Record: | 7–11 |
| Hc Year: | 11th |
| Asst Coach1: | Doug Novsek |
| Asst Coach2: | Carson Harris |
| Asst Coach3: | Kavon Lacey |
The 2017–18 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by 11th-year head coach Marty Simmons, played their home games at the Ford Center as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the 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.[1] 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.[2]
The Purple Aces finished the 2016–17 season 16–17, 6–12 to finish in eighth place in MVC play. They defeated Indiana State[3] in the MVC tournament before losing to Illinois State in the quarterfinals.[4]
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Benzon | 2 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| 3 | G | 6'0" | 185 | Senior | Graduated | |||
| Jaiveon Eaves | 4 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Freshman | Transferred to John A. Logan College | ||
| Sergej Vucetic | 14 | C | 7'1" | 238 | RS Senior | Graduated | ||
| Willie Wiley | 23 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| David Howard | 44 | F | 6'8" | 225 | RS Senior | Graduated |
In the conference's preseason poll, the Aces were picked to finish in ninth place in the MVC.[5] Junior guard Ryan Taylor was named to the preseason All-MVC second team.
|-!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| Missouri Valley regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| Missouri Valley tournamentSource[6] [7]