DES MOINES, Iowa – In a matchup of Missouri Valley Conference leaders the Drake University men's basketball pulled past Missouri State, 61-58, Saturday afternoon in the Knapp Center.
Drake (12-9, 6-2 MVC) remained undefeated at home this season (8-0) and moved into a half-game lead in the MVC standings ahead of Loyola. The Bulldogs host the Ramblers Wednesday, Jan. 24 in the Knapp Center for another meeting of Valley contenders.
"To win this game is huge, but the way we won it was huge for our guys and hopefully it's a huge step forward," said Drake head coach
Niko Medved.
The Bulldogs were led by senior
Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) who had a game-high 24 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Eighteen of Timmer's points came in the second half as he willed the Bulldogs to another hard-fought win on their home court in front of their biggest home crowd of the season.
"It's a special place when we can pack this place," Timmer said of the crowd. "It's an advantage for us on the court. The more people here the more energy we get from them."
Senior
Ore Arogundade (Chicago, Ill.) just missed his first career double-double with nine points and eight rebounds while fellow senior
De'Antae McMurray (Alton, Ill.) added eight points and six rebounds. Junior
Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) recorded seven rebounds and tied his career-high with three blocks, the last one coming with 33 seconds left to help prevent an MSU comeback.
"I've never been one to shy away from that," McGlynn said. "It's a team defense effort tonight but it came down to him and I and I had to make a play."
Missouri State (15-6, 5-3 MVC), the preseason favorite in the MVC, was led by senior Jarrid Rhodes and junior Jarred Dixon who both scored 15 points. The Bulldogs' defense held Missouri State's leading scorer and the preseason MVC scorer of the year Alize Johnson to just two points and an 0-of-9 shooting performance. Johnson recorded a game-high 11 rebounds.
"We knew their bigs were really talented and we knew we'd have to get into them," Timmer said of the team's defense on Johnson. "That's all you can do as a defense, is work to frustrate their best player. Alize is one of the best players in the league and holding him to two points is a credit to C.J. [Rivers] and Ore."
In a game that featured nine ties and four lead changes, Drake won the rebound battle 43-40 over a taller Missouri State team. Both defenses kept the game in check as neither team shot above 36 percent. Drake shot 20-of-58 (34.5 percent) and held Missouri State to 24-of-67 (35.8 percent). The Bulldogs 23 first-half points were a season low and Drake converted on just three three-pointers.
After opening the second half outscoring the Bears 12-5, Drake took its first lead of the game since the opening minutes with a 35-33 lead. Missouri State erased the Bulldogs' lead with a 10-2 run. A layup by Timmer broke the Bears run before Drake forced four back-to-back empty possessions for Missouri State to take back the lead, 44-43, on a pair of free throws by senior
Casey Schlatter (Iowa Falls, Iowa). Schlatter scored four points but held keep possessions alive with five of the Bulldogs' 11 offensive rebounds.
Drake held a narrow 54-53 edge entering the final three minutes of the game and a Timmer layup for gave Drake a 56-53 lead with less than a minute to go. McGlynn's third block of the day forced Missouri State to foul Timmer, who converted a pair of free throws for a 58-53 lead.
The Bears scored a quick two points out of the timeout before once again fouling Timmer, who buried two more free throws to finish the day 8-of-8 at the free-throw line. On a last-chance effort, Missouri State's Rhodes hit a 3-pointer to pull the Bears within two points at 60-58. After missing a pair of free throws, Drake got a stop at the other end of the court before McGlynn made his final free throw to secure the Bulldogs' victory.
Following Saturday's win, the Bulldogs remain home to host another MVC title contender, Loyola. Tipoff against the Ramblers is set for 7 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Knapp Center.
