DES MOINES, IOWA -- Senior guard
Adam Emmenecker, playing in his last home game, scored 14 points -- all in the second half -- while setting a school single-season assist mark as No. 20 ranked Drake held off Wichita State, 73-63, in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season finale for both teams Saturday.
Emmenecker had four conventional three-point plays, making free throws after baskets, during a 13-minute stretch in the second half as Drake improved to 25-4, including a 15-3 league mark.
Emmenecker played a brilliant floor game distributing eight assists, while collecting two steals without committing any turnovers. He set the school single-season assist mark at 177, bettering the previous record of 174 set by
Al Stewart last year.
Senior forward PJ Couisnard, enjoying his second straight 20-plus game, led the Shockers with 20 points including 11 in the first half.
Junior forward Ramon Clemente registered his fourth career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for Wichita State which slipped to 11-19 including a 4-14 league record.
Senior
Klayton Korver, appearing in his school record 118th game, led a balanced Drake attack with 19 points, including five three-point baskets.
Korver drilled four three-point baskets in the opening 10 minutes of the first half staking the Bulldogs to a 27-18 lead. That capped a 12-3 scoring spree by Drake that erased a 16-15 deficit. Korver hit two three-point baskets in the surge.
The Bulldogs used conventional three-point plays by Emmenecker and Cox during a 7-0 run that expanded the lead to 45-31.
Wichita State was able to cut the deficit to five points twice with the latter coming on a jumper by freshman Aaron Ellis with 4:01 to pull the Shockers within 63-58.
But Drake used a 10-3 run, aided by five points from Korver, to widen its advantage to 73-61 with 51 seconds left.
Senior guard
Leonard Houston, who also was appearing in his final home game, added 14 points, five rebounds and three steals for Drake.
Sophomore guard
Josh Young collected 10 points for Drake, which will be the No. 1 seed in upcoming State Farm MVC Tournament next weekend in St. Louis, Mo.
Wichita State outrebounded Drake, 44-31. Cox led Drake with seven rebounds.
An eighth consecutive sellout crowd of 7,152 saw Drake improve its home record to 14-1, record the most home wins ever in a season.