DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake University men's basketball team continued its best start in 41 years Sunday, Dec. 13, getting a career game from
D.J. Wilkins in beating Air Force 81-53 at the Knapp Center.
Wilkins, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored a career-best 23 points, with 17 coming during a torrid burst midway through the second half. He reached a career high in 3-pointers, going 6-for-10 from beyond the arc, and shot 7-for-11 overall to match his career best for field goals.
"It was fun for him," DeVries said of Wilkins. "He really dedicated himself in the summer and fall. He's shooting it with so much confidence. He was calling for it and we just kept feeding him."
Roman Penn (11),
Joseph Yesufu (11) and
Garrett Sturtz (10) also reached double figures for the Bulldogs (6-0), who are off to their best start since the 1979-80 season. Penn also dished out eight assists and graduate transfer
Shanquan Hemphill pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points and
Darnell Brodie had a career-high nine rebounds. Drake outrebounded the Falcons 40-20.
"I thought that was a big key for us, those guys getting in there and getting offensive rebounds, it really makes a big difference for us," DeVries said.
The Bulldogs have won each of their six games by double figures, the longest such stretch since Dec. 12-30, 1987, and they did it against one of the nation's best defensive teams.
Air Force had been allowing just 56 points a game and holding opponents to 37 percent shooting. Drake shot 56.4 percent and went 10-for-24 from 3-point range.
"The guys did a nice job of preparing for Air Force," said Drake head coach
Darian DeVries. "They're a difficult prep because their offense is unique. I thought the guys did a nice job defending that and then going against 40 minutes of zone, I thought they were locked in to the things we were trying to do and did a nice job."
Wilkins was at his best during a 4 1/2-minute stretch in the second half when he scored 17 of the team's 21 points. Finding his touch, Wilkins knocked down three 3-pointers in the span, drove across the lane for a bucket and even notched three points on a shot he didn't make. He was fouled on a shot from behind the arc and made all three free throws.
His one-man surge took Drake from a 10-point lead into a 58-43 advantage and the Bulldogs continued to build the lead from there. After a slow start this season, Wilkins has made 13 of his last 20 3-point attempts, flashing the accuracy that Coach DeVries has come to expect from the sharpshooting guard.
The Bulldogs scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed. Air Force drew to 12-11 with a 9-0 run as Drake went scoreless for four minutes, but the Bulldogs responded with a 13-1 burst that included two baskets from Sturtz and Wilkins' first 3-pointer. They led by double-digits the rest of the way.
"I thought we really got the game going the way we wanted to in the second half and thought out defense started to wear into them as the half went on," DeVries said.
Abe Kinrade, a 6-foot-7 junior from Maquoketa, Iowa, led Air Force (2-2) with 15 points.
Drake will return to action Wednesday, Dec. 16 at South Dakota, a team the Bulldogs beat 69-53 in Manhattan, Kan., in the second game of the season.
