THE BASICS
After Illinois State determined it was unable to compete in Sunday's (Jan. 9) men's basketball home game against Evansville. Evansville will now host Drake on Saturday (Jan. 8) at 4 p.m. inside the Ford Center. Drake's Saturday (Jan. 8) home game with Indiana State was postponed earlier in the week. The Bulldogs have not played since Jan. 2 because their contest at Southern Illinois on Jan. 5 was postponed to Jan. 17.
 
The Bulldogs last competed on Sunday, Jan. 2 in a 61-56 loss at Missouri State as Missouri Valley Conference play picked up again. Garrett Sturtz came off of the bench to record his fifth career double-double after he scored a season-best 16 points and hauled in 11 rebounds.
 
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE
The Purple Aces are 4-9 overall having last played on Jan. 2 at Northern Iowa, falling to the Panthers by a final score of 83-61.

After the UNI loss, Evansville is off to an 0-2 start in MVC play, having lost a 54-52 slugfest on Dec. 1 against SIU.
 
Senior guard Shamar Givance is the leading scorer for the Aces averaging 14.4 points per game. Fellow senior guard Jawaun Nelson also averages double digits points a contest (13.8) and paces Evansville with 5.7 rebounds per game.
 
Todd Lickliter was the head coach at Iowa from 2007-10, where he coached current Drake assistant Matt Gatens.
 
EVANSVILLE SERIES NOTES
This will be the 57th meeting between Drake and Evansville in men's basketball. The all-time series is tied 28-28.

Drake went 2-0 against Evansville during the 2020-21 season and currently owns a 5-game winning streak over the Purple Aces.
 
Darian DeVries holds a 5-1 record versus Evansville as a head coach.
 
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.
 
DRAKE'S IRON MAN
D.J. Wilkins made his 111th consecutive start in the game against Missouri State on Jan. 2. •Wilkins ranks 6th all-time in Drake men's basket- ball history with 203 career 3-pointers made. Bull- dog guard from 2014-18 Reed Timmer currently sits in 5th place with 214 shots made from behind the arc. Josh Young (2006-10) is Drake's all-time leader in career 3-point field goals made with 255 treys.
 
PENN RETURNS AND RESPONDS
Guard Roman Penn, who had missed the last seven games because of a foot injury, returned to the starting lineup at Missouri State and responded with 13 points, including nine points in the opening 10:09 of the game.
 
MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
Drake is ranked No. 16 in the latest men's basketball CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.