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Tremell Murphy at UNI
54
Drake University DU 12-5 (1-3 MVC)
57
Winner UNI UNI 7-10 (2-2 MVC)
Drake University DU
12-5 (1-3 MVC)
54
Final
57
UNI UNI
7-10 (2-2 MVC)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Drake University DU 23 31 54
UNI UNI 29 28 57

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Drake Athletic Communications

Men's Basketball Unable To Push Past UNI

Two scoring droughts sink the Bulldogs hopes for a Valley road win.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The Drake University men's basketball team nearly erased an 11-point deficit before UNI outlasted the Bulldogs in the final moments of a 57-54 loss Sunday afternoon at the McLeod Center.

Drake (12-5, 1-3 MVC) had multiple opportunities to pull ahead of the Panthers but were held scoreless for the final 5:40 of the contest. UNI's (7-10, 2-2 MVC) disruptive defense limited the Bulldogs to a season-low 33.9 percent shooting percentage.

"We weren't great offensively," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "I thought we defended well enough to win the game, but we couldn't get anything going to get over the hump."

Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) led the Bulldogs with 15 points on 16 shots and added nine rebounds during a frustrating afternoon for the forward. D.J. Wilkins (Merrillville, Ind.) added 11 points, all in the second half, and three assists. Brady Ellingson (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) had 11 points including a critical three-pointer to tie the game at 52-52 with 6:41 left in the contest.

A minute later, McGlynn added his and the Bulldogs' final points of the game. With 15 seconds left in the game and UNI nursing a 55-54 lead, the Bulldogs sent UNI's A.J. Green to the line. The freshman, who finished with 11 points, missed the front end of a one-and-one. Drake collected the rebound and following a timeout at midcourt drew up a potential game-winning play.

However, Tremell Murphy's attempted a lob pass into the paint and UNI's Luke McDonnell disrupted a leaping McGlynn with eight seconds left. The Panthers picked up the loose ball and promptly made two free throws to seal the win.

"There are three pieces to that play, and that's one of the options," DeVries said. "He [Murphy] thought he had it and we couldn't come up with it. If he didn't have that look, we would have pulled it out and gone into a secondary action, but we didn't get that."

UNI took an early first-half lead as Drake turned the ball over three times in the first 10 minutes and started the contest shooting 3-of-18 from the field. UNI held the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly 10 minutes in the middle of the period to take a 17-9 lead. However, the Bulldogs closed the half shooting 5-of-11 to draw within six points, 29-23, at halftime.

"That first half we really struggled and brought nothing offensively," DeVries said.

Drake shot 27.6 percent in the first half with McGlynn and Tremell Murphy combining to score 15 of the Bulldogs' 23 first-half points.

Despite the Bulldogs drawing near to close the first half, the Panthers came out firing in the second half, stretching their lead to 37-26 in the first two minutes of the second half to take their largest lead of the game.

The Bulldogs pulled within four points, 39-35, but the Panthers were able to keep a cushion by making five of their first eight three-point attempts. A quick 5-0 Drake run started by an Ellingson three-pointer drew the Bulldogs within three points, 48-45, with 9:30 left.

Three minutes later, Ellingson's final three-pointer knotted the game for the first time until Drake's offense encountered its second extended scoring drought of the game.

"As a coaching staff, we need to look and make sure we're putting our guys in the right sports and see why we were unable to get the looks we wanted," DeVries said of the scoreless spans. "We had a couple of big droughts that kept us from getting in the game when we were getting stops on defense."

The Bulldogs will have little time to look at those areas as they return to the road Wednesday to face Bradley. Tipoff in Carver Arena is set for 7 p.m. with the game being broadcast on FS Midwest, NBC Sports Chicago and ESPN+.
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