Upcoming Events This Week
Competition
Wednesday, January 23 – vs. Creighton (Knapp Center) – 7:05 p.m.
Television: Fox Sports Net
Radio: 1350 AM – KRNT
Promotions: Rally Towel Giveaway
Sunday, January, 20 – at Missouri State (JQH Arena) – 2 p.m.
Television: ESPN3
Radio: 1350 AM – KRNT
Teleconferences
Monday, January 21 – 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
Tuesday, Jan. 22 – Drake Basketball Luncheon – Overtime – 11:30 a.m.
Mark Phelps and his staff will join fans for their regular basketball luncheon at Overtime (4810 86th Street, Urbandale) at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $12 per person.
Please note that there is no coaches radio
show this week due to the women’s basketball vs. Wichita State broadcast
on Monday evening.
This Week’s Opponents
Creighton
Creighton, which was ranked 12th in last
week’s national poll, is 17-2 on the season and 6-1 in MVC action. The
Bluejays suffered their first conference loss of the season on Saturday
with a 67-64 loss at Wichita State. The team
is one of the most potent offensive squads in the nation by averaging
78.9 points per game while shooting an NCAA best 45.2 percent from
three-point range on 9.6 three-pointers per game. Defensively, the
Bluejays are no slouch, holding opponents to 62.3 points
per game this season with teams managing to shoot just 40 percent from
the field. Doug McDermott, one of the frontrunners for national player
of the year honors, leads the team in scoring with 24.1 points per game
on 56.6 percent shooting. Big man Gregory
Echenique averages 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
The Series vs. Creighton
Creighton leads the all-time series by a 93-58
margin and has won four straight over the Bulldogs. Inside the Knapp
Center, the series is tied at 10-10.
First Meeting this Season – Jan. 8
A red-hot shooting performance helped No. 13
Creighton cruise past the Drake University men’s basketball team by a
91-61 margin. The Bulldogs were led by Joey King with 17 points off of
the bench. All five of the freshman’s made shots were
from three-point distance for his third highest point total of the
season. Creighton had four players in double figures with Ethan Wragge
leading all scorers with 22. points. The MVC-leading Bluejays shot 64
percent from the field on the night, including
16 three-pointers. The Bulldogs were unable to get many open shots and
converted on 35 percent from the field (21-of-59) and 32 percent from
three (9-of-28). The squad struggled early, scoring nine points in the
first 10 minutes of the contest. The Bluejays
came out gunning with three-pointers by Grant Gibbs, Doug McDermott and
Jahenns Manigat to give Creighton an 11-2 lead. Before the Bulldogs
were able to gather their bearings, the hosts had jumped out to a
21-point lead, 30-9, 10 minutes into the game.
Missouri State
The Bears are 5-14 overall this season but 3-4 in
the Missouri Valley Conference heading into their game against Wichita
State on Wednesday. After opening up the MVC season 3-1, the squad has
dropped its last three contests including a
69-66 defeat at Bradley on a buzzer-beater. Offensively, the Bears
average just 59.7 points per game with Anthony Downing leading the team
with 14.2 points per game while Marcus Marshall adds 9.9 per game. The
Bears are one of the least turnover-prone teams
in the nation at just 10.9 turnovers per game.
The Series vs. Missouri State
Missouri State leads the all-time series by a 36-10
margin and is a perfect 4-0 against the Bulldogs at JQH Arena. Overall,
MSU has earned six straight wins over Drake with the last DU win coming
on Jan. 12, 2010 by an 88-77 margin in Des
Moines.
First Meeting this Season – Jan. 5
Freshman Joey King matched a career high with 21
points, but it wasn’t enough for the Drake University men’s basketball
team to push past Missouri State as the Bears held on for a 77-65 win at
the Knapp Center. King matched his career-best
set earlier this season against Xavier in the Direct TV Classic. He
also led the team in rebounds with seven. Senior Ben Simons poured in 17
points, 14 in the second half. The Bears shot 44 percent from three
point range on the night, hitting eight of their
18 attempts. They began the game making five of their first nine from
distance. A Gavin Thurman three-pointer with 2:05 to play extended the
Missouri State lead to 64-57 and Anthony Downing hit six consecutive
free throws to seal the game for the visitors.
Downing led all players with 24 points.
Last Week
Jan. 16 – Evansville – W, 83-69
Chris Hines’ 21 points
and three others in double figures led the Drake University men’s
basketball team to an 83-69 win over Evansville at the Knapp Center.
Leading by just one point at halftime, 39-38, the Bulldogs
came out on fire in the second half, hitting 15-of-23 shots from the
floor, including 7-of-9 from behind the arc. Drake was strong on the
defensive end as well as the team held Evansville to just 7-of-24 from
the field and 1-of-13 from behind the three-point
line in the second half. After Colt Ryan knocked down two free throws
to give Evansville a 57-56 lead with 11:52 left in the game. Drake
answered with a 15-4 run, the last on a jumper by Joey King to give the
Bulldogs a 71-59 lead that forced Evansville to
take a timeout with 4:53 left in the game to try and stop the bleeding.
However, Evansville had no answer for Drake out of the timeout as the
Bulldogs would go up by as many as 16 points on the way to their first
MVC win.
Jan. 20 – at UNI – L, 85-55
An early first-half deficit coupled with a 16-0 UNI
run in the second half proved to be too much for the Drake University
men’s basketball team to overcome as the Panthers defeated the Bulldogs,
85-55. Richard Carter scored 16 points on
6-of-12 shooting, but the previously hot-shooting Bulldogs converted on
just 35.6 of their attempts in the loss. Deon Mitchell led UNI with 20
points to pace four Panthers in double-figures including Jake Koch with
16 points on near-perfect 7-of-8 shooting.
As a team, UNI converted on 60 percent of their shots and were shooting
above 70 percent from the field for the majority of the second half.
Halfway through the first half, Drake held a two-point lead before a
13-0 run vaulted UNI into a 11-point, 28-17, lead
with over a 3:13 span. Coming out of intermission, the Bulldogs
couldn’t reverse the momentum as UNI used a 16-0 run four minutes into
the second half to extend its lead to 28 at 59-31.
Team Notes
- The Bulldogs are averaging 71.4 possessions per
game, the 2nd fastest pace in the MVC. In conference games, the squad is
playing at a 71.5 possession pace, the fastest in league games.
- Drake is shooting 38.8 percent from the three-point arc, the second highest percentage in the MVC and the 19th best nationally.
- In the last two games, Richard Carter is
averaging 14.5 points and 4.0 assists per game on 45 percent shooting
from the field and 57.1 percent from three-point range.
- Ben Simons first of two three-pointers at UNI was the 200th of his career at Drake.
- The Bulldogs’ free-throw shooting has seen marked
improvement in conference play at 72.6 to rank in the top half of the
league. On the season, the Bulldogs are second in the league at getting
to the line with 382 attempts.
- Despite scoring just three points at UNI, Chris Hines is averaging 15.7 points per game in his last three games.
- After committing 37 turnovers in its first two
MVC games, the Bulldogs have taken care of the ball recently with just
13.5 turnovers per game in its last four MVC games.
- The Bulldogs are 8-5 when scoring 70 or more points this season and just 1-8 when their opponent scores 70 or more.
- Drake’s bench has outscored its opponents’ reserves in each of the last three games by a 65-43 margin.
MVC Player of the Week Nominee
Richard Carter
G – 5-11 – 177
Jr. – Detroit, Mich.
Led the team on the week with 14.5 points and 4.0
assists per game on the week off the bench … converted on 45 percent of
his attempts from the field and 57.1 percent of his three-point tries …
opened the week with 13 points and six assists
in 25 minutes against Evansville … scored 16 points, including 12 in
the first half, at UNI with a pair of assists and was 6-of-12 from the
field in the loss.
MVC Newcomer of the Week Nominee
Richard Carter
G – 5-11 – 177
Jr. – Detroit, Mich.
Led the team on the week with 14.5 points and 4.0
assists per game on the week off the bench … converted on 45 percent of
his attempts from the field and 57.1 percent of his three-point tries …
opened the week with 13 points and six assists
in 25 minutes against Evansville … scored 16 points, including 12 in
the first half, at UNI with a pair of assists and was 6-of-12 from the
field in the loss.
Player Notes
0 – Kori Babineux – Played four minutes with two points at UNI.
1 – Jordan Clarke – Averaged 7.0 points and 8.5 rebounds on the week. Had 10 points and eight rebounds at UNI.
2 – Gary Ricks, Jr. – Scored two points on the week.
3 – Richard Carter – Scored a team-high 16 points at UNI and averaged 14.5 points and 4.0 assists on the week.
4 – Chris Hines – Scored 21 points on 6-of-9 three-point shooting in the win over Evansville.
10 – Jeremy Jeffers – Scored eight points at UNI and averaged five points on the week.
11 – Karl Madison - DNP – Injury (Knee)
21 – Robert Puleikis – DNP – Coach’s Decision
22 – Micah Mason – Scored five points on the week but was an uncharacteristic 1-of-7 from the arc.
23 – Mitch McLaughlin – DNP – Coach’s Decision
24 – Joey King – Had seven points on the week but was scoreless in the loss at UNI.
25 – Matt Bowie – DNP – Coach’s Decision
34 – Ben Simons – Hit his 200th career three-pointer at UNI and averaged 12 points and 2.5 assists on the week.
40 - Daddy Ugbede – Scored four points in two games and was 2-of-3 from the field.
45 – Seth VanDeest – Averaged 8.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
