The Basics
The Drake men's basketball team will play host to Valparaiso on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. before traveling to Missouri State for a 2 p.m. tipoff to ring in the New Year on Sunday, Jan. 1.
 
Broadcast Information
Thursday night's game against Valparaiso will be televised live on CBS Sports Network with Alex Del Barrio (play-by-play) and King McClure.
 
Sunday's game at Missouri State will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
102.1/1350 ESPN Des Moines is the radio home of Drake men's basketball with Michael Admire back to describe the play-by-play with Paul Doerrfeld providing analysis.

Scouting Valparaiso
Valpo carries a 6-7 record into Thursday night. The Beacons are off to a 0-5 start on the road this season. Valparaiso won back-to-back home games to close out non-conference play (71-66 vs. Elon on Dec. 18 and 77-67 vs. Stonehill on Dec. 21).
 
The Beacons lost their first two MVC games of the season against Belmont (76-64 on Dec. 1) and Murray State (77-70 in OT on Dec. 4).

Valparaiso was predicted to finish ninth in the MVC preseason poll.

Preseason All-MVC First Team selection Ben Krikke paces the Beacons with 18.3 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game. Wisconsin transfer Kobe King is also off to an impressive start averaging 17.6 points a night. Another dazzling guard for Valpo is Glenville State transfer Nick Edwards, who has dished out a team-best 58 assists so far.


Former standout at Stanford and Valpo assistant, Matt Lottich enters his 7th season at the helm
of the Valparaiso men's basketball team with an even 103-103 record.
 
Series vs. Valparaiso
The all-time series is deadlocked, 8-8.

Darian DeVries owns a 6-2 record against Valparaiso as a head coach.

The two teams met six times before Valparaiso joined the Missouri Valley Conference at the beginning of the 2017-18 athletic seasons.
 
Scouting Missouri State
The Bears enter Wednesday night (Dec. 28) with a 5-7 overall record. Missouri State split its first two MVC games of the season against UIC (66-51 win on Nov. 30) and Bradley (58-40 loss on Dec. 3).
 
Missouri State was predicted to finish fourth in the MVC men's basketball preseason poll. The Bears lost four consecutive games from Dec. 3-16 before defeating Central Michigan, 79-58 at home on Dec. 18.
 
Sophomore guard Chance Moore averages a team-best 12.9 points per game while nabbing 4.6 rebounds per game. Donovan Clay, one of the few returning players for MSU, leads the Bears with 5.8 rebounds per game while forcing a total of 14 steals.
 
Dana Ford is in his fifth season as the Missouri State head men's basketball coach with an overall record of 77-58 after leading the Bears to an NIT appearance last season.
 
Series vs. Missouri State
Missouri State leads the all-time series, 46-22. Drake won the last meeting between the two teams, which was the MVC Tournament semi-final on March 5 when the Bulldogs outlasted the Bears 79-78 in overtime.
 
Record-Setting Victory
The 76-point victory (124-58) over St. Ambrose of the NAIA was the widest victory margin in school history, bettering the previous mark of 62 in Drake's 110-48 win past Illinois College way back on Dec. 9, 1961.
 
Drake set a school record with 18 three-point baskets, surpassing the previous high of 17 set three times with the most recent occurring against Mississippi Valley State in Des Moines Dec. 22, 2016.
 
The 124 points scored by Drake were the third high- est total in school history, trailing only 162 vs. Grinnell Dec. 11, 2002 and 130 vs. UMKC, Jan. 20, 1971.
 
Dog-Eat-Dog World
Tuesday, Dec. 20 marked Drake's first victory over a nationally ranked team since beating then No. 22 Loyola Chicago, 51-50, on Feb. 14, 2021.
 
The win also marked Drake's first win over a ranked non-conference team since a 71-64 victory on Feb. 23, 2008 at No. 8 Butler.
 
Drake held Mississippi State, which was averaging 69.7 points, to a season-low 52 points.
Drake tied Mississippi State in rebounding, 36-36, marking the first time this season Mississippi State did not out-rebound an opponent.
 
The Bulldogs halted a three-game losing streak against schools from Power Five Conferences claiming its first win over a Power Five opponent clipping Kansas State, 80-70, in their 2020-21 season opener Nov. 25, 2020, in Manhattan, Kan. The victory marked Drake's 30th win over an AP Top 25 opponent.
 
The Bulldogs earned their first victory against an SEC school since beating Georgia, 66-60, on Dec. 22, 1973.
 
MVC Player of the Week
Guard Roman Penn was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 27 for his performances against No. 15 Mississippi State (19 points, 3 assists) and St. Ambrose (12 points, 4 assists). This marked the second time this season that a Drake student-athlete earned MVC men's basketball Player of the Week after Tucker DeVries was honored on Nov. 21.
 
Up Next
MVC play continues for the Bulldogs at Southern Illinois on Wednesday, Jan. 4 in preparation for the Des Moines' Hometown Weekend game versus Murray State inside the Knapp Center on Saturday, Jan. 7.