THE BASICS
The Drake men's basketball team will return to the Knapp Center as Jackson State (Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.) and Chicago State (Dec. 19 at 2 p.m.) come to town in non-conference action.
After trailing Clemson, 70-60 with 4:20 left in its Holiday Hoopsgiving game in Atlanta on Saturday (Dec. 11), Drake outscored the Tigers 14-4 to close out regulation sending the game into overtime. Clemson won in overtime by a final score of 90-80.
Tucker DeVries once again led the Bulldogs in scoring with 19 points and
ShanQuan Hemphill added 15 points with a season-high eight rebounds.
SCOUTING JACKSON STATE
Jackson State has played all of its first 10 games this season on the road. The Tigers will not play a home game until Dec. 29. Jackson State is coming off a pair of 10-point losses to teams from the state of Iowa. JSU held Iowa State to 47 points but lost 47-37 on Sunday (Dec. 12) before falling at UNI, 66-56 on Tuesday (Dec. 14).
Junior guard Gabe Watson paces the Tigers in scoring (14.6 PPG) while senior center Jayveous McKinnis averages a double-double and has swatted away 28 shots.
JACKSON STATE SERIES NOTES
This will be the fifth meeting between Drake and Jackson State in men's basketball.
Drake won the first three meetings between 1989 and 2014 before Jackson State defeated the Bulldogs at the Knapp Center by a final score of 68-63 on Dec. 10, 2016.
WILKINS JOINS 1,000 POINT CLUB
Guard
D.J. Wilkins recently became the first four- year player during DeVries' head coaching tenure at Drake to score 1,000-plus career points for the Bulldogs. Wilkins eclipsed 1,000 points on Nov. 26 vs. Alabama. He has 1,053 entering Thursday's game with Jackson State.
MAKING A STATEMENT
Since being inserted into the starting lineup against St. Thomas Dec. 5, freshman swingman
Tucker DeVries is averaging 21.3 points, 4.3 three-point baskets and 2.0 steals in three games. DeVries followed up a 21-point effort against St. Thomas with a career-high 24 points, including a career-high five treys, at Omaha last Wednesday and then added 19 points with a career-tying five treys against Clemson on Saturday.
HOME SUCCESS
Drake was 14-1 at home last season and has won 29 of its last 30 games in the venue and owns 28 straight home wins against non-conference foes. A streak that dates to Dec. 19, 2017.
Drake has gone 57-8 at home since 2017-18, the second-best home record in the Valley and 37th best record in the nation.
SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Senior forward ShanQuan 'Tank" Hemphill was named a candidate for the prestigious men's basketball Senior CLASS Award.
PENN SIDELINED
Drake guard
Roman Penn, a first-team all-conference performer who led the MVC in assists last season (5.5 avg.) will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a small fracture in his left foot. Penn missed Drake's final seven games of last season with a similar injury.
MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
Drake is ranked No. 15 in the latest men's basketball CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return to the Knapp Center to play host to Jackson State on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.
