Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011
Bulldogs Come Up Short In First MVC Road Contest At Missouri State
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.--Sophomore guard Rayvonte Rice scored 16 points to lead three Bulldogs scoring in double-figures in a 72-61 setback at Missouri State Saturday in a Missouri Valley Conference game at JQH Arena.
Box Score | Updated Season Statistics
The red-hot Bears improved to 2-0 in MVC play and 9-5 overall, while the Bulldogs dropped to 1-1, 8-5 overall.
Junior Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich.) scored 14 points, including 12 in the second half, and junior Jordan Clarke (Rockville, Md.) added 10 points and a team-leading six rebounds.
"When you go on the road, to expect to win, you have to play defense at a pretty high level," said Head Coach Mark Phelps. "You have to do the little things, you have to hit free throws, and those are two areas where we didn't get the job done."
Drake trailed just 47-46 with 10:53 to play in the game, but the Bears, who shot better than 70 percent from the field for much of the second half, put together a 10-0 run by penetrating the lane to take control of the game.
"They drove the ball and we didn't keep the dribble-drive in front of us," Phelps explained. "They've got guys who can do that. (Jarmar) Gulley and (Anthony) Downing, and I thought (Keith) Pickens did a really good job. He hasn't played a lot lately (but played) 26 minutes this afternoon. They put the ball on the deck and drove it and we didn't keep in front and they did a good job of finishing."
Missouri State shot 60.4 percent for the game (29-48), the second-best figure by a Drake opponent this season, while the Bulldogs shot 46 percent (23-50).
The Bulldogs went more than six minutes without a field goal in the second half, and shot just 2-for-5 from the free-throw line in that stretch.
The Bears built their largest lead of the game, 64-50, with 3:46 to play in the game before the Bulldogs made their final run. Drake scored six consecutive points to close the gap to eight points, courtesy of a free-throw by Clarke, a jumper by Madison and three free throws by Simons after he was fouled on a three-point attempt.
Missouri State answered before Simons came back with a jumper to make it 66-58 with 2:31 to play, as Simons scored five straight Bulldogs points.
Missouri State, however, went on a 6-0 run to put away the Bulldogs en route to the 72-61 victory.
"Missouri State deserves all the credit for having a really good offensive night," Phelps said. "Kyle (Weems) is stepping up in a big way the last two games, the first two games of League play."
Weems scored 22 points to pace the Bears, while Gulley added 14 and Downing contributed 11.
The Bulldogs had used a 10-2 run early in the second half to climb to within one point at 43-42. Simons scored five points in a row to complete the run that began with an Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark.) three-pointer followed by a bucket from Rice. Simons followed a Missouri State basket with another of his own to account for seven consecutive Drake points.
Missouri State had outscored Drake 7-3 to open the second half after leading 34-29 at halftime. Drake began the game making five of its first seven shots, but cooled off by converting just seven of its next 18 shots to finish the half at 48 percent from the field (12-25). The Bears shot 56 percent (14-25) before intermission.
Rice (Champaign, Ill.) scored nine of Drake's first 16 points to help the Bulldogs build a 16-8 lead at the 13:36 mark of the first half. He had 14 points at halftime, but managed just two in the second half. Coach Phelps credited the Bears' defensive plan as one of several factors.
"We also asked him to guard Weems a lot, and that matchup can wear you down at the defensive end so you don't have quite as much energy at the offensive end," Phelps said. "So it was a combination of things. He needed to be a little bit more aggressive and drive the ball a little bit more, and certainly Missouri State did a good job on him as well."
In nearly a reverse scenario to that of Rice, Simons scored the game's first two points on a short jumper just 13 seconds into the contest, but did not score again until the 13:26 mark of the second half.
The Bulldogs made 4-of-11 three-point attempts (36%), while the Bears converted 5-of-8 (63%) from behind the arc. Drake was 11-of-21 from the free-throw line (52.4%), and Missouri State was 9-of-17 (53%).
"We missed 10 (free throws), and at least two, maybe three, were front-ends of one-and-ones," Phelps said. "So we had a lot of opportunities at the free-throw line. We haven't been good this year, and we have been working on it. We have to get better at that. That would have made it a different game to be closer down the homestretch of the game."
The Bears won the rebounding battle 32-23, as the Bulldogs managed their fewest caroms of the season. The margin was just 14-10 at halftime.
Drake, which lost for the 11th consecutive time at Missouri State, now prepares for its second consecutive road game, Tuesday, Jan. 3, at Creighton.
