The Drake University men's basketball team closes its non-conference season on Tuesday evening when it hosts Abilene Christian at the Knapp Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the contest being broadcast regionally on Mediacom MC22 and on
The Valley On ESPN3.Tuesday will also be a 'Dollar Day' at the Knapp Center with soft drinks, popcorn, candy and hot dogs available for $1. The first 100 fans through the Knapp Center doors will also receive a special mystery gift from Drake Athletics. Fans are also encouraged to bring a teddy bear to the game for the annual 'Teddy Bear Toss' at halftime.
On the court, the Bulldogs return to their home court for the program's first meeting with Abilene Christian. Both teams stand at 4-7 on the season and are coming off losses over the weekend with the Bulldogs falling to Iowa, 70-64, at the Big Four Classic and Abilene Christian falling at TCU, 80-69.
In its last two games, Drake has been led by sophomore
Reed Timmer(New Berlin, Wis.). On Saturday, Timmer scored 25 points against Iowa, the most points the Hawkeyes have surrendered to a player this season. It was also his fifth 20-point game of the season and he ranks fifth among sophomores nationally in scoring at 19.5 points per game. Saturday's loss also saw
Ore Arogundade(Chicago, Ill.) make his first start of the season and respond with a season-high nine points. Defensively, he drew the task of guarding the Hawkeyes' leading scorer, Jarrod Uthoff. Arogundade held Uthoff to 10 points, nearly half of his average this season.
The Bulldogs will aim to maintain their strong rebounding on Tuesday. Against Iowa, Drake held a nine-rebound advantage - its second-biggest margin against a Division I opponent this season and its biggest advantage against a Big Ten team since 2007-08.
Jacob Enevold(Lunderskov, Denmark) has helped lead that charge by recording double-figure rebounds in two of the last three games. He is averaging 9.3 rebounds per game during that span.
Abilene Christian, a member of the Southland Conference, averages 71.1 points per game this season and is led by Jaylen Franklin's 13.3 points per game with Jovan Crnic adding 10.1 points per game.
Following Tuesday's contest, the Bulldogs will have a brief holiday break before resuming practices in preparation for the Dec. 31 Missouri Valley Conference opener at Wichita State.
