RICHMOND, Va. – Sardaar Calhoun excelled in his home state, but the Drake men's basketball team lost a Saturday matinee to Richmond, 82-52 at the Robins Center.
 
"There's not a lot to say," head coach Darian DeVries said. "We got off to a bad start and could never get it going. It's disappointing from my end that we weren't more prepared and ready to go from the start."
 
The Spiders (4-5) began the game on a 17-0 run capped off by a Tyler Burton fastbreak layup with 13:05 to play in the opening half. Drake (8-2) did not score until Tucker DeVries made a pair of free throws at the 12:53 mark. DeVries also had the first Bulldog field goal of the game (11:17 left) as Drake trailed 24-4.
 
Drake had fouls pile up on them quickly in the first half. With under seven minutes remaining before halftime, Roman Penn connected on back-to-back baskets. Tappahannock, Va., native Sardaar Calhoun heated up from beyond the arc and drilled a right-wing triple to trim the deficit to 37-20 with 4:05 left in the first half.
 
Entering the locker room, the Bulldogs faced their largest halftime deficit of the season, 47-25. Drake committed seven turnovers from the first half and shot 7-for-24 through the first 20 minutes of play.
 
The Bulldogs wasted no time to get on the board in the second half with a Roman Penn mid-range jumper. Penn followed that up with a driving layup as Drake attempted to chip away, behind 47-29 with 19:06 still to go in the second half.
 
Offensively, Richmond stayed hot and continued to control momentum. Burton's alley-oop dunk extended the Spiders' advantage to 57-32 at the 13:15 mark of the second half.
 
Richmond finished 54.5 percent from the field (30-for-55). Jason Nelson led all scorers with 19 points while Burton added 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
"We have a full week now that we can dive in and work on getting better," Darian DeVries said. "It's a long year. You never look at a clunker like this and overreact. It all comes back to simple stuff. Our habits aren't good enough. We have to play more consistent."

Due to finals week at Drake University this upcoming week, the Bulldogs will not play again until Saturday, Dec. 17 at Saint Louis with a 7 p.m. scheduled tipoff.
 
TEAM NOTES
•Drake, in the midst of a three-game road trip, slipped to 8-2 overall.
•The Bulldogs are 0-2 on the road this season and will play their second consecutive road game at an Atlantic 10 Conference school traveling to Saint Louis next Saturday (Dec. 17).
•Drake posted season lows in: scoring-52; rebounds-28; assists-5; field goals made-18; three-point baskets made-3; field goal percentage (.321); and three-point field goal percentage (.143).
•Drake suffered its largest margin of defeat since Dec. 14, 2019 at Dayton (78-47).
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Senior forward Sardaar Calhoun came off the bench, scoring 17 points to lead Drake including 10 in the first half. It marked his fifth double-figure scoring game this season.
•Graduate guard Roman Penn added 10 points and five rebounds.
•Center Darnell Brodie collected a game-high eight rebounds
•Graduate guard D.J. Wilkins was held to a season-low one point, not making a basket for the first time in a game this season.
 
THE SERIES
•With the victory Richmond evened the series against Drake to 1-1 with each team winning on their home court. The Bulldogs won the inaugural meeting between the schools, 73-70, in Des Moines, Nov. 20, 2021.