The Drake University men's basketball team begins the next chapter in its historic season Friday when it starts play at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Bulldogs earned the No. 2 seed after earning a share of the MVC regular-season title with a 23-8 overall record and a 12-6 league mark.
 
Drake will face either No. 7 Illinois State or No. 10 Evansville in its quarterfinal contest at 6 p.m. inside the newly renamed Enterprise Center. The Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed for the first time in program history.
 
The Bulldogs' 23 wins are the program's most since 2008 and the third most in program history to clinch a share of the league title. The team's first league title has also brought with it a haul of honors as Nick McGlynn was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and named to the league's All-MVC first team, All-Defensive team and Most-Improved team. Brady Ellingson earned second team All-MVC and All-Newcomer team accolades. D.J. Wilkins garnered a spot on the All-Freshman team and Anthony Murphy was named to the All-Bench team.
 
McGlynn led the Bulldogs all season with 15.6 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game to lead the league in rebounding. He is coming off a 22-point, 13-rebound performance at Missouri State that helped the Bulldogs clinch the title.
 
Drake won six of its last seven games of the season, with the lone loss coming to Illinois State. Should the Bulldog advance with their first MVC Tournament win since 2013, they will face the winner of the SIU vs. UNI contest.