THE BASICS
Drake men's basketball travels to Illinois State for a mid-week matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill. with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
 
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
The Redbirds are 10-10 overall after splitting their last two matchups against Evansville. Illinois State cruised past the Purple Aces, 94-56 on Friday Jan. 21 in Normal before Evansville got revenge in the Ford Center, 56-53 just two days later, Sunday. Forward Sy Chatman exited the game late in the second half due to an injury.
 
Antonio Reeves leads the Redbirds with 20.3 points per game. Kendall Lewis has come on strong lately for Illinois State averaging 9.7 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game along with 22 blocks and 22 steals over the course of the season.
 
Illinois State associate head coach Brian Jones played at UNI from 1990-94 and was an assistant coach at Iowa from 1999-2006.
 
ILLINOIS STATE SERIES NOTES
This will be the 98th meeting between Drake and Illinois State in men's basketball. The Redbirds lead the all-time series, 61-36.


Drake went 2-0 against Illinois State during the 2020-21 season and currently owns a 4-game winning streak over the Redbirds.
 
The Bulldogs defeated Illinois State 86-75 on Jan. 12 in the Knapp Center. Roman Penn and Tucker DeVries both dropped 16 points in the victory. Garrett Sturtz added 12 points while shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field. Kendall Lewis led all scorers with 20 points and made four shots from beyond the arc.
 
Darian DeVries holds a 6-3 record versus Illinois State as a head coach including two wins at Arch Madness in St. Louis.
 
SPREADING THE WEALTH
When all five starters scored in double figures in Drake's 82-74 overtime win at UNI Saturday, it marked the third game this season that the Bulldogs had at least five players reach double- digit scoring.
 
Roman Penn had a season high 18 points fol- lowed by 16 apiece from D.J. Wilkins and Garrett Sturtz. Tremell Murphy and Tucker DeVries added 11 apiece.
 
Drake had six players score in double figures in a 90-80 overtime loss to Clemson: DeVries 19, ShanQuan Hemphill 15, Wilkins and Sturtz 13, Darnell Brodie & Murphy 10.
 
Earlier in a 78-70 win at Omaha, DeVries led the way with a career-high 24 points followed by 13 from Murphy, 11 from Sturtz and 10 apiece from Hemphill and Wilkins.
 
BLOCK PARTY
Drake recorded a season-high six blocked shots at UNI Saturday, including three in overtime that proved pivotal in an 82-74 overtime victory.
 
Senior forward Tremell Murphy tied a career high with four blocked shots, including back-to-back blocked shots against 2020 MVC Player of the Year A.J. Green in a 16-second span in overtime.
 
WALKING THE TIGHT ROPE
Garrett Sturtz, Tremell Murphy, Roman Penn and D.J. Wilkins all played the overtime period at UNI with four personal fouls to their name and did not foul out. Sturtz picked up his fourth early in the second half with 15:08 to play, Murphy was called for his fourth foul with 6:54 left, Penn committed foul number four with 2:31 remaining in regulation and Wilkins picked up his fourth foul early in OT.
 
MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
Drake is ranked No. 17 in the latest men's basketball CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
 
UP NEXT
Drake's next scheduled game is Sunday (Jan. 30) against Loyola in a Whiteout at the Knapp Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be aired on ESPN2.