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Anthony Murphy
80
Evansville Evans 9-18,0-14 MVC
85
Winner Drake DRA 17-10,7-7 MVC
Evansville Evans
9-18,0-14 MVC
80
Final
85
Drake DRA
17-10,7-7 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Evansville Evans 40 40 80
Drake DRA 34 51 85

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

Murphy's Career-High Leads Drake Men's Basketball Over Evansville, 85-80

Senior finishes with 20 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs, for his first double-double of the season.

Drake University senior Anthony Murphy had a career-high 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Drake University men's basketball team to an 85-80 win over visiting Evansville Sunday afternoon at the Knapp Center.

His 13 boards were also a career-high to give him his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career. Roman Penn added 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals while Liam Robbins had 15 points. 

"It's great to get back on the winning track and this was certainly a hard-fought win," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "Evansville shot the ball well again tonight, and it was a good win for us to get that battle back there in the second half, and some guys stepped up there in the second half and made some plays that help us secure it."

Evansville (9-18, 0-14) shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from three-point range with Evan Kuhlman making 5-of-9 to finish with 17 points. Sam Cunliffe added 25 points for the Purple Aces.

However, Drake shot 22-of-33 (.667) inside the three-point arc and attempted a season-high 42 free throws with 32 makes. 

"It was part of the game plan was to get it inside a lot and then we wanted to get downhill ourselves in transition and the half-court, trying to get the free-throw line," DeVries said. "Overall, I thought our mentality and mindset was really good throughout the game in terms of just playing from the paint."

Murphy scored 12 of his points in the second half and half of his points on the day came from the free-throw line as he helped the Bulldogs erase a halftime deficit with a 13-0 run to open the second half. 

Drake's defense held Evansville scoreless for the first four minutes of the half to erase a six-point halftime deficit and take a seven-point, 47-40, lead. D.J. Wilkins scored the first four points of that run for Drake and a Jonah Jackson three-pointer re-energized the Knapp Center crowd of 4,067, the biggest of the season. 

The Aces briefly drew within a basket at 51-49, but Murphy continued to pour in points to keep the Bulldogs' lead at two possessions or more until a pair of late UE free throws cut the lead to three-points, 77-74, with less than 50 seconds left in the contest. 

However, Penn sank a pair of free throws of his own to account for the last of his 19 points and Garrett Sturtz, who finished with 11 points, drew an offensive foul on Evansville's ensuing possession to seal the victory.

Drake fell behind to open the game as Evansville made three of its first six three-point attempts to roll out to a 10-2 lead. The Bulldogs trimmed that margin to a point, 12-11, on a Noah Thomas three-pointer, but UE continued to connect from deep. Twelve minutes into the opening half, the Aces converted on seven of their 12 three-point attempts to lead by as many as nine points. 

Behind 19 first-half points from Penn and Thomas, the Bulldogs trimmed that deficit to six points, 40-34, at halftime and carried that momentum into the second half for the win.

The Bulldogs, who have now won 17 of their last 18 games at the Knapp Center, remain at home to host Valparaiso Wednesday, Feb. 19, evening at 7 p.m. 
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