2018–19 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 2018–19 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . The Crusaders, led by third-year head coach Matt Lottich , played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as second-year members of the Missouri Valley Conference . They finished the season 15–18, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a tie for eighth place. As the No. 9 seed in the MVC tournament , they defeated Indiana State in the first round before losing to Loyola in the quarterfinals.
Previous season
The Crusaders finished the 2017–18 season 15–17, 6–12 in MVC play to finish in last place in their first season as members of the MVC. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley tournament to Missouri State .
Offseason
Departures
Incoming transfers
Name
Number
Pos.
Height
Weight
Year
Hometown
Previous School
Deion Lavender
2
G
6'4"
190
RS Senior
Alton, IL
Transferred from UAB . Was eligible to play immediately since Lavender graduated from UAB .
Eron Gordon
G
6'3"
200
Junior
Indianapolis, IN
Transferred from Seton Hall . Under NCAA transfer rules, Gordon had to sit out for the 2018–19 season, after which he had two years of eligibility.
Nick Robinson
G
6'6"
195
Junior
Chicago, IL
Transferred from Saint Joseph's . Under NCAA transfer rules, Robinson had to sit out for the 2018–19 season, after which he had two years of eligibility.
2018 recruiting class
College recruiting information
Name
Hometown
High school / college
Height
Weight
Commit date
Javon Freeman-Liberty #41 SG
Chicago, IL
Whitney Young
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Star ratings : Rivals : N/A 247Sports : N/A ESPN grade: 79
Daniel Sackey PG
Winnipeg, Canada
Thornlea Secondary School
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Star ratings : Rivals : N/A 247Sports : N/A
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:
Roster
2018–19 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G
0
Javon Freeman-Liberty
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Whitney Young HS
Chicago, IL
G
1
Micah Bradford
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
155 lb (70 kg)
Jr
Bradley–Bourbonnais HS
Bradley, IL
G
2
Deion Lavender
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
RS Sr
Marquette Catholic HS Southern Illinois /UAB
Alton, IL
G
3
Daniel Sackey
5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Thornlea
Winnipeg, MB
G
4
Bakari Evelyn
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
RS Jr
Southfield Christian School /Nebraska
Detroit, MI
G/F
5
Markus Golder
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
RS Jr
Clackamas HS North Idaho College
Portland, OR
G
12
Langston Stalling (W)
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Fr
Bowman Academy
Gary, IN
C
14
Jaume Sorolla
7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
Jr
Sunrise Christian Academy (KS)
Tortosa, Spain
C
21
Derrik Smits
7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
RS Jr
Zionsville HS
Zionsville, IN
F
23
Mileek McMillan
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
So
Merrillville HS
Merrillville, IN
G/F
33
John Kiser
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Jr
Noblesville HS
Noblesville, IN
G/F
35
Ryan Fazekas
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
RS Jr
Marquette Catholic HS /Providence
Chesterton, IN
G
Eron Gordon
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Jr
Cathedral HS Seton Hall
Indianapolis, IN
G
Nick Robinson
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Jr
Kenwood Academy Saint Joseph's
Chicago, IL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule and results
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 1, 2018 *7:00 pm
Indianapolis
W 60–57
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,256)Valparaiso, IN
Non-conference regular season
Nov 6, 2018 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
Concordia University Chicago
W 121–65
1–0
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,098)Valparaiso, IN
Nov 15, 2018 *4:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. Western Kentucky Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinals
L 71-83
1–1
HTC Center (3,620)Conway, SC
Nov 16, 2018 *5:30 pm, ESPN3
vs. Monmouth Myrtle Beach Invitational consolation 2nd round
W 64–53
2–1
HTC Center (2,830)Conway, SC
Nov 18, 2018 *9:30 am, ESPNU
vs. Wake Forest Myrtle Beach Invitational consolation 5th place game
L 63-69
2–2
HTC Center (639)Conway, SC
Nov 21, 2018 *7:00 pm, ESPN+
SIU Edwardsville
W 75–70 OT
3–2
Athletics–Recreation Center (1,940)Valparaiso, IN
Nov 24, 2018 *1:00 pm, ATTSPT
at West Virginia Myrtle Beach Invitational non-bracket game
L 76–88
3–3
WVU Coliseum (9,188)Morgantown, WV
Nov 28, 2018 *9:30 pm, ATTSNRM
at UNLV MW–MVC Challenge
W 72–64
4–3
Thomas & Mack Center (7,587)Las Vegas, NV
Dec 2, 2018 *1:00 pm, ESPN+
UC Riverside
W 82–73
5–3
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,112)Valparaiso, IN
Dec 4, 2018 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
High Point
L 53–55
5–4
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,479)Valparaiso, IN
Dec 8, 2018 *3:00 pm, ESPN+
at George Washington
W 82–79
6–4
Charles E. Smith Center (2,107)Washington, D.C.
Dec 17, 2018 *7:00 pm, ESPN+
Ball State
L 61–77
6–5
Athletics–Recreation Center (3,636)Valparaiso, IN
Dec 19, 2018 *7:30 pm, SECN+
at Texas A&M
L 41-79
6–6
Reed Arena (6,684)College Station, TX
Dec 29, 2018 *1:00 pm, ESPN3
Purdue Northwest
W 97–61
7–6
Athletics–Recreation Center (1,925)Valparaiso, IN
MVC regular season
Jan 2, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+
Illinois State
W 58–56
8–6 (1–0)
Athletics–Recreation Center (3,818)Valparaiso, IN
Jan 5, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3
at Missouri State
W 82–66
9–6 (2–0)
JQH Arena (4,179)Springfield, MO
Jan 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+
Bradley
W 61–50
10–6 (3–0)
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,535)Valparaiso, IN
Jan 12, 2019 3:00 pm, FSMW /NBCSCH
at Southern Illinois
W 65–61
11–6 (4–0)
SIU Arena (4,671)Carbondale, IL
Jan 15, 2019 7:00 pm, NBCSCH
at Loyola–Chicago
L 54-71
11–7 (4–1)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,412)Chicago, IL
Jan 19, 2019 3:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSCH
Northern Iowa
W 75–66
12–7 (5–1)
Athletics–Recreation Center (3,160)Valparaiso, IN
Jan 23, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Indiana State
L 53-70
12–8 (5–2)
Hulman Center (3,460)Terre Haute, IN
Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3
Drake
L 59-70
12–9 (5–3)
Athletics–Recreation Center (4,160)Valparaiso, IN
Jan 29, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+
Missouri State
L 54-55 OT
12–10 (5–4)
Athletics–Recreation Center (1,333)Valparaiso, IN
Feb 2, 2019 1:00 pm, FSMW/NBCSCH
at Evansville
L 53–64
12–11 (5–5)
Ford Center (5,805)Evansville, IN
Feb 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Illinois State
W 69–53
13–11 (6–5)
Redbird Arena (4,662)Bloomington, IL
Feb 10, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPNU
Loyola–Chicago
L 51–56
13–12 (6–6)
Athletics–Recreation Center (5,148)Valparaiso, IN
Feb 13, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3
Indiana State
L 82-87 OT
13–13 (6–7)
Athletics–Recreation Center (3,014)Valparaiso, IN
Feb 16, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3
at Drake
L 79-84
13–14 (6–8)
Knapp Center (4,035)Des Moines, IA
Feb 20, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+
Southern Illinois
W 55–52
14–14 (7–8)
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,371)Valparaiso, IN
Feb 23, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Northern Iowa
L 53-64
14–15 (7–9)
McLeod Center (3,812)Cedar Falls, IA
Feb 27, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Bradley
L 42-67
14–16 (7–10)
Carver Arena (5,867)Peoria, IL
Mar 2, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+
Evansville
L 63-65
14–17 (7–11)
Athletics–Recreation Center (2,592)Valparaiso, IN
MVC tournament
Mar 7, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+
(9)
vs. (8) Indiana State First Round
W 77–55
15–17
Enterprise Center (0)St. Louis, MO
Mar 8, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN+
(9)
vs. (1) Loyola-Chicago First Round
L 54-67
15-18
Enterprise Center (0)St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Source[ 1]
References