The Drake University men's basketball team returns to the Knapp Center, where it is undefeated this season, to host Evansville Saturday, Jan. 13, at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs take to their home court in first place in the MVC standings at 4-1 while Evansville is 2-3 in conference action.
Saturday's game is also the Bulldogs' Hometown Heroes game with Drake Athletics honoring all local police, fire, EMS and military personnel and their families with free admission by showing badge or ID at the Drake Athletic Ticket Office.
The Bulldogs 6-game home win streak is the program's longest since 2011-12 when the team won its first seven home games of the season. The six home wins already equals the program's total number of home wins last season and the Bulldogs have already exceeded their season win total from last season with a 10-8 record in head coach
Niko Medved's first year at the helm of the program.
Drake remains the top scoring team in the MVC at 77.3 points per game. Additionally, its defense is ranked third in field goal percentage defense at 42.5 percent in MVC games. Drake has held three of its five MVC opponents to less than 40 percent shooting. Evansville presents numerous defensive challenges for the Bulldogs as the Aces rank third in the nation in three-point accuracy at 44.8 percent.
The Bulldogs are no slouch behind the arc either, ranking 26
th nationally in three-point accuracy at 40 percent and the seventh best nationally among teams that have taken 400 or more three-pointers.
The last time the two squads met in the Knapp Center,
Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) and
Ore Arogundade (Chicago, Ill.) combined to score 45 points in an 88-76 Drake win. In six previous meetings with Evansville, Timmer has average 17.5 points per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the three-point arc.
Following Saturday's game, the Bulldogs make the short trip to in-state foe UNI to face the Panthers, Jan. 16.
