Drake Men's Basketball Weekly Update – Jan. 13
Upcoming Events This Week
Competition
Wednesday, January 16 – vs. Evansville (Knapp Center) – 7:05 p.m.
Television: Mediacom MC22
Radio: 1350 AM – KRNT
Sunday, January 20 – at Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, Iowa/McLeod Center) – 2 p.m.
Television: ESPN3
Radio: 1350 AM – KRNT
Teleconferences
Monday, January 14 – 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, January 14 – 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
Evansville
The Purple Aces are off to their first 4-1 start in
Missouri Valley Conference play since 2000 after knocking off No. 23
Wichita State on Sunday afternoon, 71-67. The win was Evansville’s
fourth straight and sixth in its last eight games.
The Aces average 69.6 points per game on 45 percent shooting. Colt Ryan
leads the team with 16.4 points per game on 42.5 percent shooting and
38.1 percent from behind the arc. Point guard Troy Taylor is one of the
top rebounding guards in the nation with a
team-high 7.4 rebounds per game with 4.3 assists per game. In their
last four games, the Aces are holding opponents to 63.3 points per game
The Series vs. Evansville
Wednesday’s game is the 38th in the
series with Evansville holding a slim, 19-18, advantage in the series.
Drake has won three straight games against the Aces but is 8-9 against
them in the Knapp Center after rattling off wins
in Evansville’s last two visits to the Knapp Center
Northern Iowa
The Panthers are currently 9-8 overall and 2-3 in
MVC games heading into their Tuesday contest at Creighton. In its most
recent outing, UNI exploded for 84 points, its most in an MVC game, in
an 84-53 win over Bradley. As a team, UNI shoots
44.6 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from the three-point arc.
Anthony James leads three scorers averaging double-figures with 11.6
points per game. Seth Tuttle and Deon Mitchell add 11.4 and 10.4 points
per game, respectively. Tuttle also adds 6.2
rebounds per game to rank just behind the team’s top rebounder, Jake
Koch, who hauls in 6.5 boards per game.
The Series vs. Northern Iowa
Drake and UNI have met 60 previous times with UNI
holding a 36-24 advantage in the series. The Panthers have also won the
last two meetings and are 20-5 against the Bulldogs in Cedar Falls.
However, of those five Drake wins, three have
come in UNI’s current venue, the McLeod Center.
Last Week
Jan. 8 – at Creighton – L, 91-61
A red-hot shooting
performance helped No. 13 Creighton cruise past the Drake University
men’s basketball team by a 91-61 margin Tuesday night at the CenturyLink
Center. 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.
Jan. 12 – at Illinois State – W, 82-77
A career-high 23 points from Chris Hines and
a tough second-half defensive effort helped propel the Drake University
men’s basketball team over Illinois State, 82-77, Saturday night at
Redbird Arena. Facing a 9-point first-half deficit
after allowing the Redbirds to shoot 54.8 percent from the field, the
defense stole the show in the second half by keeping Illinois State
without a field goal for the first 6:13 of the half to take the lead.
The Redbirds mustered just 32.4 percent shooting
in the stanza. Jordan Clarke scored Drake’s (7-9, 1-4 MVC) first
six points of the half and finished the game with a 16-point,
11-rebound effort that included 7-of-7 shooting. Fellow senior Ben
Simons capped the run that gave the Bulldogs the lead
at 46-44 with five straight points. Simons matched Hines with 23
points, five rebounds and three assists.
Team Notes
- In its win at Illinois State, Drake pushed the
pace with 78 possessions, its third fastest pace this season and its
fastest in an MVC game. It also tied for the most possessions by a team
in an MVC game this season
- Drake had two players record a double-double in
the win at Illinois State as Jordan Clarke had 16 points and 11 rebounds
while freshman Joey King scored 11 points with 11 rebounds. It was the
first time the Bulldogs had accomplished this
feat since Jan. 24, 2009 when Jonathan Cox and Craig Stanley
accomplished the same at Creighton.
- The Bulldogs three-point shooting returned to
form with a 41.7 percent performance on 10-of-24 shooting. On the
season, Drake is shooting 38.7 percent to rank 25th nationally.
- The Bulldogs have made 10 or more three-pointers in a game six times this season.
- 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 353 attempts.
- Freshman Joey King has led the Bulldogs in MVC
play with 13.6 points per game and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 50
percent. Of his 28 rebounds in the last four games, 11 have come on
offense. All of this has come on 25.8 minutes per game.
He leads all MVC freshmen in conference scoring and rebounding.
- After committing 37 turnovers in its first two
MVC games, the Bulldogs took care of the ball against Missouri State
with 10 turnovers, its second fewest of the season. That was followed up
by a season-low seven turnovers in the loss at
Creighton.
- Ben Simons scored 27 points last week to give him 1,154 career points and move him into 14th
all-time at Drake past Klayton Korver. However, he failed to hit a
three-pointer at Creighton to snap his MVC best streak of games
with a three-pointer at 30. He rebounded with three three-pointers at
Illinois State.
MVC Player of the Week Nominee
Joey King
F – 6-9 – 219
Fr. – Eagan, Minn.
Led the team on the week with 14 points and 6.5
rebounds per game on 42.1 percent shooting from the field and 54.5
percent from the three-point arc. Is currently leading all MVC freshmen
in scoring and rebounding in conference games.
Had a team-high 17 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting in the loss at
Creighton with a pair of rebounds and an assist. Followed that up with
his first double-double thanks to an 11-point, 11-rebound outing at
Illinois State. Of his 11 rebounds, four were
on offense and he dished out a career-high four assists that led to 10
points.
MVC Newcomer of the Week Nominee
Joey King
F – 6-9 – 219
Fr. – Eagan, Minn.
Led the team on the week with 14.0 points and 6.5
rebounds per game on 42.1 percent shooting from the field and 54.5
percent from the three-point arc. Is currently leading all MVC freshmen
in scoring and rebounding in conference games.
Had a team-high 17 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting in the loss at
Creighton with a pair of rebounds and an assist. Followed that up with
his first double-double thanks to an 11-point, 11-rebound outing at
Illinois State. Of his 11 rebounds, four were
on offense and he dished out a career-high four assists that led to 10
points.
Player Notes
0 – Kori Babineux – Did not play at Illinois State … had one point in six minutes at Creighton.
1 – Jordan Clarke – Had his fifth
double-double of the season with 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting with 11
rebounds at Illinois State … scored 11 points with four boards at
Creighton.
2 – Gary Ricks, Jr. – Was scoreless in 11 minutes at Creighton.
3 – Richard Carter – Had six points and four assists on the week.
4 – Chris Hines – Scored a career-high 23
points at Illinois State on 9-of-17 shooting with four three-pointers
and added a career-high three assists after being held scoreless at
Creighton.
10 – Jeremy Jeffers – Scored five points in 17 minutes on the week.
11 – Karl Madison - DNP – Injury (Knee)
21 – Robert Puleikis – DNP – Coach’s Decision
22 – Micah Mason – Returned to the lineup
from illness and averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 assists on the week … was
3-of-4 from the three-point arc at Creighton for 11 points.
23 – Mitch McLaughlin – DNP – Coach’s Decision
24 – Joey King – Continued his strong MVC
play with 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game on the week … led the
team with 17 points at Creighton and followed that with an 11-point,
11-rebound double-double and a career-high four
assists at Illinois State.
25 – Matt Bowie – DNP – Coach’s Decision
34 – Ben Simons – Scored just four points at
Creighton, but followed that up with a season-high 23 points on
7-of-13 shooting with five boards and three assists at Illinois State.
40 - Daddy Ugbede – Had two points in eight minutes on the week.
45 – Seth VanDeest – Scored seven points with six rebounds in two games.
[This story was written for Ron Maly by Ty Patton, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications].
