The Drake University men's basketball team plays its first of back-to-back games against Big Ten competition Monday, Dec. 11, when it faces Minnesota. Tipoff from historic Williams Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. The Bulldogs return to the road with a 5-4 record after defeating Omaha, 93-74, Saturday afternoon.

Drake and Minnesota meet for the first time since Dec. 13, 1988 when Drake defeated Minnesota, 66-52. Minnesota owns a 12-7 advantage in the series. However, Drake has won the last two meetings of the season.

The Bulldogs' offense, unencumbered by a season-low five turnovers against Omaha, recorded its third 90-point game of the season in the win over Omaha and the team is averaging 83.1 points per game. Drake last averaged more than 80 points per game through the first nine games of a season in 2007-08.

That scoring has been aided by senior Reed Timmer's (New Berlin, Wis.) 22.1 points per game, one of the top 20 scoring marks in the nation. In the win over Omaha, he scored 27 points to record his fifth game with 25 or more points this season and move into sixth all-time in scoring at Drake with 1,547 career points.

Minnesota is 8-3 on the season but has suffered back-to-back losses on the road to Nebraska and Arkansas. Nate Murphy leads the team with 19.9 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Reggie Lynch, a former Illinois State Redbird and high school teammate of Drake's Graham Woodward, averages 11.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

Following Monday's game, the Bulldogs return to Des Moines to face Iowa in the Hy-Vee Classic at Wells Fargo Arena Dec. 16.