DES MOINES, Iowa - Five Bulldogs scored in double figures as the Drake University men's basketball team picked up a 78-66 victory over Evansville Wednesday, Jan. 23. The win moved Drake to 4-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play and 15-5 overall.
The Bulldogs were led by senior
Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) who scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season and fourth in Missouri Valley Conference action.
"I thought Nick was awesome tonight. He was a man down there," said Drake head coach
Darian DeVries. "Tonight he did a better job getting some angles and finishing strong. Defensively, he did a good job neutralizing them. He's playing like a senior."
D.J. Wilkins (Merrillville, Ind.),
Tremell Murphy (Griffith, Ind.) and
Garrett Sturtz (Newton, Iowa) scored 11 points apiece while
Noah Thomas chipped in 10 to round out the balanced offensive attack to help Drake improve to 9-1 on its home court.
"Overall, I thought it was a great game for us," DeVries added. "Defensively we did a much better job, and I thought we were extremely active and did a lot of good things at that end of the floor."
After a slow and sluggish start to the first half, Drake was able to head into the halftime break with a 35-31 lead. Neither team could get on a run as both teams combined for 14 turnovers and 22 total team fouls in the first 20 minutes of play. Drake was paced by McGlynn and Thomas who scored 13 and 9 points, respectively, in the opening half.
After the halftime break, a dunk from
Tremell Murphy sparked what would end up being a 22-10 run in the second half, forcing an Evansville timeout with 7:57 remaining and a 65-48 Drake lead. That brief delay did not slow the Bulldogs as Drake never looked back the rest of the way to cruise to the 78-66 victory over the Purple Aces.
The Bulldogs scored 23 points off of 15 Evansville turnovers and dominated inside as they outscored Evansville 50-22 in the paint. After going 0-of-6 from the three-point line in the first half, Drake went 4-of-9 in the second half to complement a 56.7 field goal percentage for the game.
"We didn't shoot it well the whole night," DeVries said."We've got good shooters and just had a half where it didn't go in. I thought they did a good job of not taking 30 threes when they weren't going in. They found ways to drive, get to the free-throw line and get the ball inside. That was the difference in the game, ultimately."
The Purple Aces (9-11, 3-4 MVC) were led by redshirt sophomore John Hall who scored 13 points on the night, as did Marty Hill.
Drake will hit the road to take on Valparaiso on Saturday, Jan. 26th. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN3. Drake returns to the Knapp Center on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. where they host Illinois State.
