Game 5 • vs. Valparaiso • #DUvsVU
November 28, 2014 • 5 p.m. CST
Nashville, Tenn. • Municipal Auditorium
Television: None
Radio: 1350-AM KRNT
The Game
• The Drake men's basketball team begins play in the four-team Challenge in Music City on Friday evening at and Valparaiso. Two games in the two ensuing days against Portland and Murray State follow.
• Last season, the Bulldogs claimed their lone tournament title by winning three games in three days at the Fresno State Classic.
• Drake travels to Nashville fresh off of its first win of the season, a 73-60 victory over IUPUI on Tuesday night. That game saw the return of Gary Ricks, Jr., and Karl Madison to the lineup from a three-game suspension.
• Despite the return of veteran leadership, freshmen are accounting for 44.8 percent of the Bulldogs' points, 40.4 percent of their rebounds, 44.9 percent of assists and 55.6 percent of steals.
• A year after leading the MVC in three-point shooting, the Bulldogs have retained that crown through the first four games by shooting a stout 45.6 percent from the three-point arc. Of the eight Bulldogs that have attempted a three-point shot this season, five are shooting better than 40 percent.
• Currently the Bulldogs are ranked 12th in the nation in three-point shooting.
• Drake has outrebounded three of its four opponents to date.
• Valparaiso is 4-1 this season with three-straight wins including Sunday's 93-70 win over Maine. The team is averaging 74.8 points per game while shooting 41 percent from the three-point arc.
• Three Crusaders are averaging double-figure scoring with Alec Peters 19.6 points per game leading the way.
A Win Would ...
• Make Drake 2-3 this season and 2-3 to start a season for first time since 2011-12.
• Be head coach Ray Giacoletti's 188th career win.
• Be the 1,181th win in program history.
• Make Drake 3-3 all-time against Valparaiso.
• Give Drake back-to-back wins for the first time since Feb. 15-18, 2014 .
A Loss Would ...
• Make Drake 1-4 to open a season for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
• Be Drake's seventh-straight loss away from home.
• Make Drake 2-4 all-time against Valparaiso.
vs. the Horizon League
• Drake is 24-16 all-time against current members of the Horizon League. Nearly half of those meetings have come against Detroit, which Drake has met 21 times.
• Previously, Drake had also played former Horizon League member and MVC newcomer Loyola 19 times.
• Drake has played every current Horizon League member except for Youngstown State and has a winning record against six of them.
• Drake's last game against a Horizon League foe was a 61-59 win at UIC to open the 2013-14 season.
Football Rivals
• Despite only meeting five times on the hardwood, Drake and Valparaiso are regular contestants on the football field as charter members of the Pioneer Football League.
• Drake leads that series by a 19-3 margin with 11-straight wins over the Crusaders following this fall's 17-9 win at Valparaiso.
With Ricks ...
• Gary Ricks, Jr.'s return to the lineup yielded the Bulldogs' first win of the season as he poured in nine points with a team-high five assists.
• Ricks outside of the stats, Ricks' veteran presence is noted as the Bulldogs are 7-2 over the last two years with Ricks in the lineup and 9-17 without the senior guard.
Perfect Center Play
• In the win over IUPUI, Drake had near perfect play from its centers as Jacob Enevold and Kory Kuenstling combined to go 9-of-9 from the field for 19 points with 12 rebounds.
• Enevold recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
Caird and Daniels Step Up
• Seniors Chris Caird and Jordan Daniels helped keep the Bulldogs within striking distance of DePaul on Nov. 18 with 19 and 17 points respectively.
• At Western Michigan, the scored a collective 23 points.
• In the season opener against DePaul, the pair had eight points each on 5-of-9 shooting.
Opp. FG-FGA Pct. 3FG-FGA Pct. Pts.
Taking Aim
• Drake is currently 12th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 45.6 percent.
• Below are the nation leaders in three-point percentage.
Team 3FG 3FGA 3FG%
1 Duquesne 26 48 54.2
2 Portland St. 30 60 50.0
3 Arkansas 31 63 49.2
4 Illinois 44 93 47.3
5 Ball St. 38 81 46.9
6 Seton Hall 35 75 46.7
Western Mich. 35 75 46.7
8 TCU 34 73 46.6
9 UNCW 19 41 46.3
10 Miami (FL) 57 124 46.0
11 Wofford 44 96 45.8
12 Drake 26 57 45.6
• The Bulldogs led the MVC and ranked 11th nationally in three-point accuracy at 39.6 percent in 2013-14.
• Drake sank a season-high 14 three-pointers in its win against Missouri State to tie for the eighth most in school history.
• The Bulldogs have re-written the three-point record book in recent seasons.
• Last season, the squad's 239 three-pointers were the fifth-most in program history.
• Below is the program's records for three-pointers in a season.
1. 310 2007-08 (840 att.)
2. 284 2009-10 (746 att.)
3. 279 2012-13 (703 att.)
4. 266 2008-09 (765 att.)
5. 239 2013-14 (603 att.)
6. 232 2001-02 (595 att.)
7. 212 2011-12 (585 att.)
8. 203 2010-11 (573 att.)
• Below is a summary of each season's three-point shooting over the past six seasons.
Season 3pt./G 3pt. pct. NCAA Rank
2013-14 7.7 .396 (239-603) 11th
2012-13 8.7 .388 (279-720) 15th
2011-12 6.2 .362 (212-585) 83rd
2010-11 6.5 .354 (203-573) 115th
2009-10 8.6 .381 (284-746) 31st
2008-09 8.1 .348 (266-765) 135th
Youth Movement
• In the Bulldogs' season opener against Bowling Green, true freshmen accounted for 50 percent of the team's points, 60 percent of its rebounds, 100 percent of its assists and 100 percent of its steals.
• At DePaul, the newcomers had less of an impact, but were still a critical component of the team's production.
• Additionally, Drake's freshmen are logging serious minutes on the court. Currently there are 35 Division I freshmen averaging 30 with Drake's Reed Timmer ranking fifth in the nation among freshmen in minutes played at 34.8 minutes per game while C.J. Rivers is 45th at 29.0 minutes per game. The pair lead the MVC in minutes played by freshmen.
Bulldogs Move Into Shivers Basketball Practice Facility
• On Nov. 14, the Bulldogs officially dedicated their new $8 million state-of-the-art home, the Shiver Basketball Practice Facility.
• The 44,000 square foot structure, connected to the east side of the Knapp Center, provides dedicated practice space for both the men's and women's teams.
• In addition to a pair of practice courts, the facility features new locker rooms, team lounges and film room.
• The upper level of the structure includes the Courtside Club for gameday hospitality and campus events.
Get to 70
• Drake scored 70 or more points in its last three wins of 2013-14 and the team was 12-1 when scoring 70 or more points last season and is 1-1 in 2014-15
• Conversely, the squad is just 3-13 when allowing 70 or more points during the last two seasons.
Rebounding Key To Wins
• One of Drake's program goals under Giacoletti is to win the battle of the glass.
• In the program's first seven games of 2013-14 the team did that to the tune of a 6-1 record.
• Last season, Drake outrebounded its opponent in all 15 of its wins.
• However the team was outrebounded in 15 of its 16 losses.
• The 2014-15 season opener against Bowling Green marked one of the few instances in which the Bulldogs have held a rebounding advantage (33-13) and lost. The Bulldogs repeated that feat at Western Michigan with a 21-19 advantage on the glass.
• Drake has outrebounded its opponent in three of four games this season and is 1-2 when doing so.
Enevold Leads Denmark
• Over the summer months, Drake sophomore Jacob Enevold returned to his native Denmark where he helped lead the Danish national U-20 team to the Nordic Basketball Championship.
Drake Adds Four For Next Season
• Drake University men's basketball has signed four student-athletes for the 2015-16 season. Set to join the Bulldogs' program are Billy Wampler (Eau Claire, Wis.), Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.), Dominik Olejniczak (Torun, Poland) and Johannes Dolven (Oslo, Norway).
• All four measure 6-6 or taller with both Wampler and McGlynn rated as three-star prospects by 247sports.com and Wampler ranked as the sixth-best player in the class of 2015 in Wisconsin by wissports.net. Olejniczak and Dolven add to the Bulldogs' pool of northern European talent and bring international experience combined with tremendous upside to the Bulldogs' roster.
• Wampler is a 6-6, 200-pound wing from Eau Claire Regis High School in Eau Claire, Wis. During his junior season with the Ramblers under head coach Bill Uelmen, he averaged 25.5 points per game and was a unanimous Division 4 first-team all-state selection while earning honorable mention all-state honors from the Associated Press.
• Fellow Wisconsinite Nick McGlynn is a 6-8, 215-pound forward from Stoughton High School in Stoughton, Wis. As a junior for head coach Matt Hockett, he averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds to earn honorable mention all-state honors and first-team all-conference accolades. He also played in the AAU ranks for head coach Ritchie Davis and the Wisconsin Playground Warriors.
• Dominik Olejniczak is an agile, 7-0, 230-pound center who averaged 14 points and seven rebounds per game in his current Polish league and averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game during the U-18 Division A European Championships this past summer.
• Johannes Dolven is a 6-8, 225-pound forward from Oslo, Norway, who competes for Baerum Basket, a club team he helped lead to a third-place finish in the U-18 Eurobasket.com All-European Division B Championships. During that tournament, he averaged 16.5 points, 12.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game over eight games against international competition. During the 2012-13 season, he played in the second division of the Norwegian league with Bygdoy.
