maly, too: Big Four Classic Next for Bulldogs

Monday, December 10, 2012

Big Four Classic Next for Bulldogs

Drake Men's Basketball Weekly Update – Dec. 10

Upcoming Events This Week

Competition

Saturday, Dec. 15 – vs. Iowa State (Big Four Classic) – Des Moines, Iowa (Wells Fargo Arena) – 4 p.m. CST

Television: Mediacom MC22

Radio: 1350 AM - KRNT

Coaches Shows/Luncheons

Monday, Dec. 10 – Drake Basketball Coaches’ Show – Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery (West Des Moines) – 7 p.m. CST

The Drake Basketball Coaches’ show returns to the air on KRNT 1350-AM and originating live from Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery (4508 University Avenue, West Des Moines) at 7 p.m. Women’s head coach Jennie Baranczyk leads off the program. Men’s head coach Mark Phelps joins the discussion at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 11 – Coffee With The Coaches – Smokey Row – 7:30-9 a.m. CST

Members of the men’s basketball staff – if schedules allow – and other Drake coaches will visit with fans at Smokey Row Coffee (1910 Cottage Grove Avenue Des Moines, IA 50314) from 7:30 – 9 a.m. Free house-blend brewed coffee will be available to those in attendance.

This Week’s Opponents

Iowa State – Dec. 15

Drake and Iowa State meet as part of the inaugural Big Four Classic on Saturday afternoon. The Cyclones are 7-3 this season with all seven wins coming on their home court. The squad has won three of its last four after defeating Nebraska-Omaha, 93-65, on Sunday evening and is averaging 82.4 points per game, the 11^th highest average in the nation. Will Clyburn leads the team with 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while Tyrus McGee trails closely at 13.7 points per game while converting on 45.9 percent of his 61 three-point attempts this season. Defensively, teams have only scored 66.3 points on 38.9 percent shooting against the Cyclone.

The Series vs. Iowa State

Saturday’s game is the 172^nd in the series that dates to 1908. Iowa State leads the all-time series by a 106-65 margin, however, Drake has won four of the last six meetings. Last season, the Bulldogs prevailed, 74-65, in the Knapp Center.

Last Week

Dec. 5 – St. Mary’s, L 88-73

Perennial NCAA participant Saint Mary’s had five players score in double-figures to defeat Drake, 88-73, Dec. 5 at the Knapp Center in a game that was part of the DirecTV Classic. The Bulldogs were limited to 41.2 percent shooting from the field. The team’s three-point offense came into the contest averaging 10 three-pointers per game and was limited to six three-pointers, many of them coming with the game out of reach. Jeremy Jeffers tallied a career-high 16 points to lead the Bulldogs in the loss. Seth VanDeest recorded 15 points before fouling out with just under five minutes to play and Ben Simons added 11 points. Australian Olympian Matthew Dellavedova was a matchup problem all night for the Bulldogs, finishing with a game-high 31 points to pace the Gaels. Brad Waldow was a force inside, nearly recording a double-double against a defense that was hindered by the absence of Jordan Clarke who saw limited minutes due to illness.

Dec. 8 – IPFW, W 74-64

Senior Chris Hines scored 19 points to lead the Drake University men’s basketball to a 74-64 win against IPFW Dec. 8 at the Knapp Center. Hines’, a fifth-year senior transfer from Utah, scored his highest point total since transferring to Drake and two shy of his career high. The senior shot 50 percent from the three-point line (3-6) and led the team with six free throws on eight attempts. IPFW pressured Drake throughout most of the second half, causing them 11 second-half turnovers. However, junior Richard Carter found holes in the lane and dished out a career-high eight assists. He also badgered the Mastodons’ guards and grabbed five steals, also a career best. Drake held its opponent to 35 percent shooting on the night (21-of-59) and only allowed five three-point baskets while causing 21 turnovers. The Mastodons’ were provided with most of their scoring by Frank Gaines, who ended the night with 27 points.

Team Notes

- Drake’s defense held IPFW to 0.76 points per possession, the lowest by a Drake opponent this season.

- IPFW was the second team this season that Drake has held under 40 percent shooting. The Mastodons converted on just 35.6 percent of their shots.

- In its last three games, the Bulldogs are averaging 29 free-throw attempts.

- In its last five games, Drake has held a 53-35 advantage in second chance points.

- The Bulldogs remain one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation ranking sixth in both three-point percentage (.426) and three-pointers per game (9.4). The averages slipped slightly as Drake shot 37.5 percent last week, going 15-of-40.

- The Bulldogs continue to claim the fastest pace of play in the Missouri Valley at 72.9 possessions per game.

- Junior Ben Simons continued to leave his mark in the Drake record books. With 15 points against IPFW, Simons passed Bart Friedrich’s (1986-1989) 1,042 points to move to 20th on the all-time list. Simon’s also poured in three three-point buckets to move his career total to 179, passing Aramnd LeVasseur’s (1996-2000) 178 and move to fourth all-time.

- Jordan Clarke narrowly missed his fifth double-double in eight games with nine points and 11 rebounds. The senior has had 10 or more boards in five games this season and leads the MVC in rebounding at 9.8 rebounds per game.

MVC Player of the Week Nominee

Chris Hines

G – 6-0 – 185

Sr. – Houston, Texas

A fifth-year transfer from Utah, Hines had his best game in a Drake uniform with a team-high 19 points in the win over IPFW. His 19 points were two shy of a career high as he went 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-6 from the three-point arc. The senior also accounted for eight of the team’s 27 free-throw attempts and converted on six of those attempts while hauling in three rebounds and dishing out two assists in 29 minutes of action.

MVC Player of the Week Nominee

Chris Hines

G – 6-0 – 185

Sr. – Houston, Texas

Player Notes

0 – Kori Babineux – Was scoreless in four minutes against Saint Mary’s. Did not play against IPFW.

1 – Jordan Clarke – Played limited minutes against Saint Mary’s due to illness, but returned with 11 rebounds and nine points against IPFW. Leads the MVC in rebounding at 9.8 boards per game.

2 – Gary Ricks, Jr. – Scored nine points against Saint Mary’s and was 3-of-4 from the arc last week.

3 – Richard Carter – Had a career-high eight assists and five steals against IPFW after scoring eight points with four assists against Saint Mary’s.

4 – Chris Hines – Posted a Drake high 19 points in the win over IPFW and had 23 points on the week.

10 – Jeremy Jeffers – Scored a career-high 16 points off the bench in the loss to Saint Mary’s. Scored four points in the win over IPFW.

11 – Karl Madison - DNP – Injury (Knee)

21 – Robert Puleikis – DNP – Coach’s decision

22 – Micah Mason – Had six points, three assists and no turnovers against Saint Mary’s before scoring eight points with a pair of steals against IPFW.

23 – Mitch McLaughlin – DNP – Injury (Hand)

24 – Joey King – Had two points off the bench against Saint Mary’s and made a three-pointer in nine minutes of action against IPFW.

25 – Matt Bowie – DNP – Coach’s decision

34 – Ben Simons – Moved into 20^th in career scoring at Drake and fourth in three-pointers. Scored 11 points with four steals against Saint Mary’s and 15 points against IPFW. Has hit double figures in all eight games this season.

40 - Daddy Ugbede – Was scoreless but collected one steal in four total minutes on the court.

45 – Seth VanDeest – Had 15 points in 22 minutes on 6-of-9 shooting against Saint Mary’s and seven points with three blocks in the win over IPFW.

[This story was written for Ron Maly by Ty Patton, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications]

JOLTIN' JOE GOT IT STARTED

When Ron Maly was a kid in Cedar Rapids, he wanted to enter an essay contest, and he did. He wrote about Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees being his favorite baseball player. For finishing second in the contest, Ron won a Louisville Slugger baseball bat autographed by DiMaggio. Ron later wanted to be the first person in his family to attend college, and he was. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Iowa, and did what all political science majors do. He became a sportswriter. He had, after all, covered high school football, basketball and baseball games for the Cedar Rapids Gazette while he worked parttime during his university days. Ron wanted to sit in the press box and write about an Iowa-Minnesota football game, and he did. It happened while he was the sports editor at the Albert Lea [Minn.] Tribune, and the game was at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. Ron wanted to cover a World Series, and he did. Also when he was working for the Albert Lea newspaper. Ron wanted to cover Rose Bowls, Sugar Bowls, Orange Bowls, Cotton Bowls, Holiday Bowls, a Freedom Bowl, a Sun Bowl, a Super Bowl and NCAA basketball tournaments, and he did those things after he moved to Des Moines. Ron was a four-time sportswriter of the Year in the state of Iowa [the years were 1977, 1978, 1994 and 1996]. In 2006, he was named a charter member of the University of Iowa's media Wall of Fame in the Kinnick Stadium press box. A photo of the plaque that's displayed in the press box is displayed above this story. Following Ron's retirement from the newspaper business, a publisher asked him if he wanted to write a book about the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa, and he did. The hardback version of "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines" was a best-seller, and so was the revised, softback version. Now he's been asked by his publisher to update the book for a second time. He's in the process of doing that at the present time. Ron considers being asked to update a best-selling book for the second time to be the supreme compliment, considering the Hawkeyes won just four games in the 2012 season. When Ron isn't working on books, he's busy traveling and spending time with his family. Indeed, he attends the athletic, theatrical and musical [both vocal and instrumental] events in which his six grandchildren participate. He also writes about anything that interests him for his many websites. Every chance he gets, Ron proudly wears his America Needs Farmers T-shirt.

The Hawkeyes' Rich Football Tradition, Revisited

I mentioned a while back that I was in the process of updating my Tales from the Iowa Sidelines book. Updating it for the second time. The original hardback edition of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines [pictured at the right] was published in 2003, during the 10-3 season, when coach Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa football team had a 10-3 record that included a 37-17 victory over 15th-ranked Florida in the Outback Bowl and after the Hawkeyes went 11-2 in 2002. That book was a best-seller, so the publishers came to me again in 2005, a season that finished with a breathtaking 30-25 victory over No. 11 Louisiana State in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day, 2005. Because buyers had cleaned out the the shelves in the bookstores, the publishers wanted to know if I'd do an updated version of the book. I agreed, The revised, soft-cover edition [pictured at the left] was published in 2005. Warren Holloway, who teamed with quarterback Drew Tate on a miraculous 56-yard touchdown pass to win the Capital One Bowl, was featured on the cover. That book, too, turned into a best-seller, So I had reason to feel very good about my years as a published author. It's not every day that a the original version is a best-seller, and so is the updated version. Then, imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from a senior editor at the publishing company last fall, wanting wanted to know if I was interested in doing a second updated version of the book. It came at a time when things weren't going well for the Hawkeyes in the 2012 season. They lost their last six games and finished with a 4-8 record. Frankly, the thought of doing a revised edition of the book during a 4-8 season seemed to be a stretch. "Maybe producing a revised edition in a year or two would be a better idea," I told the publishers. "We'd like to do it now," I was told. "Let me think about it," I said. After a few days of thought, I accepted the idea. I talked myself into the idea that this was the supreme compliment--being asked to do a second book update during a 4-8 season showed strong confidence by the publishers in me and in the Hawkeyes' football program. So I got back into the business of interviewing players and coaches again, going to postgame press conferences, weekly press conferences and a scrimmage in West Des Moines. After a press conference in Iowa City, I did a one-on-one interview with coach Kirk Ferentz, and mentioned to him that I was in the process of doing a revised edition of my two best-selling books. I congratulated him on the excellent things he had done for Iowa's football program--all of which contributed to the success of my books. "I think Coach Fry had more to do with it," he told me, bringing up the name of Hayden Fry, his one-time boss at Iowa and a man who brought Iowa's football program back from the dead in the 20th century. That's modest Kirk Ferentz for you. Even though the 2012 season wasn't something Hawkeye coaches, players and fans will recall with any special feeling, Ferentz has a 14-year record of 100-74 at Iowa that includes two 11-victory seasons [2002 smd 2009], two 10-victory seasons [2003 and 2004], plus he's been the Big Ten coach of year in 2002, 2004 and 2009, and national coach of the year in 2002. Indeed, Ferentz has done some wonderful things at Iowa City, and I fully expect his success to continue. I've concluded my writing for the second update of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines, and the senior editor has furnished me with an early look at the book. Not only are the Kirk Ferentz years included in the updated version, but so is the stuff I previously wrote about Howard Jones, Dr. Eddie Anderson, Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick and the 1939 Hawkeye Ironmen, Ronald Reagan, Ozzie Simmons, Ossie Solem, Randy Duncan, Alex Karras and lots of other legends from Iowa's rich football history. I expect the book to be in stores soon. I hope you like it.