THE BASICS
The Drake men's basketball team will pick up Missouri Valley Conference play on the road in Springfield, Mo., at JQH Arena against Missouri State on Sunday (Jan. 2) at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on the MVC TV Network including Bally Sports Midwest and NBC Sports Network Plus.
Drake matched its season high with 15 3-pointers and wrapped up the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 82-53 victory over Mount Marty (NAIA institution in Yankton, S.D.) at the Knapp Center on Tuesday night (Dec. 28).
SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE
The Bears are 9-5 overall and recently set a MVC record for 3-pointers made in a single game after sinking 21 shots from beyond the arc during a 103- 56 victory over Evangel on Thursday (Dec. 30).
Junior guard Isiaih Mosley leads Missouri State in scoring with 18.1 points per game and total steals (17).
Senior forward Gaige Prim is the leading rebound- er for the Bears at 8.4 boards per game and aver- ages 14.8 points per game. Prim has also swatted a team-high 21 blocks this season.
Missouri State lost its MVC opener at Illinois State on Dec. 1 in overtime, 79-74. The Redbirds out- scored the Bears 15-10 in OT.
MISSOURI STATE SERIES NOTES
This will be the 66th meeting between Drake and Missouri State in men's basketball. The Bears lead the all-time series, 44-21.
Drake went 3-0 against Missouri State during the 2020-21 season including a 71-69 victory in the semi-final round of Arch Madness.
Darian DeVries holds a 6-1 record as a head coach against Missouri State.
ELITE COMPANY
Drake's win over Mount Marty allowed
Darian DeVries to become the fastest coach to achieve 80 wins in program history, accomplishing that feat in 113 games. He ranks sixth on the school's career coaching victory list.
TURNING BACK THE CLOCK
For just the second time in school history Drake has enjoyed four straight years of achieving at least nine nonconference wins. This feat was achieved only one other time in Drake history when the Bulldogs won nine nonconference games four straight years from 1946-50.
ANOTHER DECEMBER TO REMEMBER
Drake has been particularly strong in the month of December under head coach
Darian DeVries.
During the past three seasons, Drake is 27-4 in the month of December with the only losses coming to Iowa State (2018), No. 14 Dayton (2019), at Bradley (2019) and Clemson (2021).
Drake's nine wins in December of 2020 were the most in the month by a team since 2011-12 when St. Mary's and Southern Miss won nine December games.
MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
Drake is ranked No. 13 in the latest men's basketball CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will head to Southern Illinois for a 7 p.m. tip inside the Banterra Center on Wednesday, Jan. 5.
