maly, too: Drake Plays North Carolina Central, Eastern Illinois

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Drake Plays North Carolina Central, Eastern Illinois

Drake Men's Basketball Weekly Update – Dec. 16

Upcoming Events This Week

Competition

Wednesday, Dec. 19 – North Carolina Central – Des Moines, Iowa (Knapp Center) – 7:05 p.m. CST

Television: Mediacom MC22

Radio: 1350 AM - KRNT

Saturday, Dec. 22 – Eastern Illinois – Des Moines, Iowa (Knapp Center) – 2:05 p.m. CST

Television: None

Radio: 1350 AM – KRNT

Teleconferences

Monday, Dec. 17 – MVC Teleconference – 11 a.m. CST

The Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball coaches teleconference starts at approximately 11 a.m. CST with Drake head coach Mark Phelps scheduled to join the call at 11:06 a.m. CST. For dial-in information to the teleconference, please contact the MVC office.

Coaches Shows/Luncheons

Monday, Dec. 17 – 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.

This Week’s Opponents

North Carolina Central

North Carolina Central travels to Des Moines for its first game after a 15-day break. The Eagles, who hail from Durham, N.C., are 5-5 on the season and had won two of their last three games. In its last outing, NCCU fell at home to Eastern Kentucky by a 63-57 margin. Drake is the second MVC team the Eagles have faced this season as they opened up the season with a 71-57 loss at Wichita State. The squad is paced by a trio of consistent scorers in Jeremy Ingram, Ray Willis and Stanton Kidd who are all averaging just shy of 14 points per game. As a team, NCCU is averaging 67.7 points per game while holding its opponents to 58.1 points per game on 40.3 percent shooting.

The Series vs. NC Central

Wednesday’s game is the third between the two programs with the previous two coming in Des Moines in 2007 and 2008. Drake won both of the those meetings handily with an 85-48 win on Nov. 30, 2007 and an 89-46 win on Dec. 6. NCCU was in the process of reclassifying from NCAA Division II to Division I during those seasons.

Eastern Illinois

Eastern Illinois started its season with a 3-8 overall record to date with the Panthers visiting Saint Louis on Wednesday evening prior to playing at Drake on Saturday. The team has lost four straight games after falling to Toledo, 67-59, in its last outing. EIU is averaging just 57.1 points per game on 40.9 percent shooting. They share a single common opponent with Drake as the Panthers earned a 68-67 win over IPFW on Nov. 18 in a neutral-site game in Ypsilanti, Mich. EIU opened its season against a MVC foe, falling 76-53 at Bradley on Nov. 9. Josh Piper is the Panthers top scorer at 12.1 points per game on 47.3 percent shooting and 45.8 percent from behind the arc with more than half of his shots coming from three-point range.

The Series vs. Eastern Illinois

Saturday’s game will be the first between the two programs.

Last Week

Dec. 15 – vs. Iowa State, L 86-77

Despite a season-high 18 points from Seth VanDeest, rebounding and foul trouble allowed Iowa State to pull away from the Drake University men’s basketball team for an 86-77 win in the Big Four Classic Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena. Each of Drake’s (4-5) top regular contributors in redshirt senior Jordan Clarke, senior Ben Simons and VanDeest found themselves’ in foul trouble early and saw limited minutes in the first half, playing just 10 combined minutes. Despite just playing five minutes in the first half, VanDeest and Simons exploded in the second half as Simons finished with 13 points to complement VanDeest’s 18. Senior Chris Hines also recorded 13 points for Drake.

Team Notes

- Drake came into the game as one of the nation’s top three-point shooting teams and was limited to a season-low six free-throws. Drake’s defense was equally disruptive for Iowa State as the Cyclones hit just four three-pointers despite averaging 9.6 per game prior to the contest.

- However, the Bulldogs are shooting 41.3 percent from the arc, the seventh highest percentage in the nation.

- Against Iowa State, Drake’s top three scorers (Simons, VanDeest, Hines) were a combined 57.1 percent from the floor (16-of-28). As a team, Drake shot 43.5 percent, but 57.7 percent in the second half.

- Drake’s 77 points were its most in a loss since scoring 81 points in an 82-81 loss to Weber State on Nov. 27, 2010 in the Great Alaska Shootout.

- Drake committed 31 fouls in the loss, the 17^th most in a Division I game this season.

- Drake had approximately 81 possessions in the contest, its second most of the season and its second game this year with 80 or more possessions. On the season, Drake is averaging 73.9 possessions per game, the 31^st most in the nation and the fastest pace in the MVC.

- Drake converted on 81 percent of its 21 free throws, its second highest percentage of the season.

- Jordan Clarke continues to lead Drake in rebounding with 9.4 per game, the most in the MVC and the 40^th most nationally.

MVC Player of the Week Nominee

Seth VanDeest

C – 6-11 - 269

Sr. – Bettendorf, Iowa

Scored a season-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. He also added four rebounds a steal and drew two charges … in the second half, he was 7-of-8 from the floor as Drake played ISU even in points in the paint.

MVC Newcomer of the Week Nominee

Chris Hines

G – 6-0 – 185

Sr. – Houston, Texas

Scored 13 points against ISU with 10 of them coming in the second half … was 4-of-10 from the field and 2-of-5 from the three-point arc … added two assists and three steals.

Player Notes

0 – Kori Babineux – DNP – Coach’s decision

1 – Jordan Clarke – Scored five points with a team-high seven rebounds … is leading the MVC in rebounding.

2 – Gary Ricks, Jr. – Was scoreless in 18 minutes.

3 – Richard Carter – Finished with nine points and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line … added four assists.

4 – Chris Hines – Scored 13 points with a pair of three-pointers and added a team-high three steals.

10 – Jeremy Jeffers – Did not score in 11 minutes.

11 – Karl Madison - DNP – Injury (Knee)

21 – Robert Puleikis – DNP – Injury (Concussion)

22 – Micah Mason – Played significant moments at point guard and recorded four assist to one turnover in 19 minutes with seven points.

23 – Mitch McLaughlin – DNP – Injury (Hand)

24 – Joey King – Made a pair of three-pointers to finish with six points before fouling out.

25 – Matt Bowie – DNP – Coach’s decision

34 – Ben Simons – Scored 13 points in 24 minutes with four assists and five rebounds … only played five minutes in the first half due to foul troubles.

40 - Daddy Ugbede – Was pressed into significant minutes and finished with five points and three rebounds, both career highs.

45 – Seth VanDeest – Scored a season-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting with four rebounds.

[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.