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DES MOINES, IA - February 5: The Drake Bulldogs play against the Bradley Braves during a Missouri Valley Conference men basketball game at Knapp Center on Wednesday, February 5, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Dylan Heuer)
Dylan Heuer
60
Bradley Brad 15-9,6-5 MVC
73
Winner Drake DRA 16-8,6-5 MVC
Bradley Brad
15-9,6-5 MVC
60
Final
73
Drake DRA
16-8,6-5 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Bradley Brad 24 36 60
Drake DRA 34 39 73

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

Robbins Scores 29 Points In Men's Basketball's Win Over Bradley

The sophomore is averaging 25 points per game against the Braves this season

DES MOINES, Iowa – Liam Robbins poured in a career-high 29 points to lead the Drake University men's basketball team to a 73-60 win over Bradley on Wednesday night at the Knapp Center. The Bulldogs (16-8, 6-5 MVC) have now won 16 of their last 17 contests at home.

Robbins' fingerprints were all over the game. He led all scorers with 29 points, paced Drake with seven rebounds and recorded a game-high three blocks. He was the major reason the Bulldogs outscored Bradley, 34-20, in the paint. Robbins drew eight fouls, and two Braves fouled out as a result of dealing with Drake's big man.

"I liked his [Robbins'] aggressiveness, and I thought defensively, he controlled the paint, which was a big part of why our defense was so good," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "Offensively, I like it when he's aggressive and attacking the rim and being physical and getting to his spots."

With Robbins serving as the anchor, Drake's defense stifled Bradley's offensive attack. The Bulldogs limited the Braves to 19-of-52 (36.5 percent) shooting from the field and 5-of-20 (25.0 percent) from the arc. Bradley entered the game ranked 19th nationally by shooting 38.1 percent as a team from 3-point range.

"I liked our mindset defensively, I thought we were outstanding in the first half outside of the first two or three minutes, but I thought the rest of the half we were engaged," DeVries said. "I do think we tried to be physical, and we got after them and that was certainly a big reason why I thought we were successful tonight."

Garrett Sturtz continued his string of strong play in leading Drake's reserves to a 24-10 advantage in bench scoring. Sturtz, who netted a career-best 18 points against Southern Illinois last game, notched 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. The sophomore from Newton has reached double-figure scoring in four of his last five outings.

"Garrett was tremendous, and defensively he was really good," DeVries said. "That doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but he just makes head's up plays for us."

Noah Thomas joined Sturtz in providing a spark off the bench. After posting a season-high 13 points last game, Thomas was credited with four assists against Bradley, his highest mark of the year.

After taking a 34-24 lead into the halftime break, the Bulldogs rattled off a 9-1 run to begin the second half. Minutes later, Robbins and Thomas canned back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Drake's advantage to 21 points, its largest of the game.

Despite shooting 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from 3, the Bulldogs managed to hit on 24 of their 48 attempts from the field against a normally stingy Braves defense. Bradley entered the night ranked 26th in the country by holding its opponents to 38.6 percent shooting.

Drake travels to Cedar Falls on Saturday, Feb. 8, for a showdown with in-state rival UNI (20-3, 9-2 MVC). Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m.
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