DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team got contributions up and down the lineup and earned a welcome bounce-back victory, beating Missouri Valley Conference newcomer UIC 77-64 at the Knapp Center on Saturday evening.

Tucker DeVries dropped in 25 points to lead the Bulldogs (7-1, 1-1 MVC), who suffered a tough loss in their conference opener at Indiana State on Wednesday night. They fell behind early in that one and faced an uphill climb the rest of the way. That wasn't the case in their return to the Knapp Center.

Drake took control with a 27-6 run in the first half and led by as many as 33 to improve to 59-8 at home under coach Darian DeVries.

"I thought we did a good job to bounce back," Darian DeVries said. "As a unit, we were more connected defensively tonight than we have been in the past few games. Our team protected each other well for the first 25 minutes. I thought our guys did a good job taking care of the ball in the first half."

One pleasing aspect in the victory: Sardaar Calhoun regained his shooting touch. Calhoun, who had scored only one point in the three previous games, finished with 14, including a 3-pointer and a slick reverse layup. He also made all seven of his free throws.

Garrett Sturtz chipped in 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including his first two 3-pointers of the season. Conor Enright came off the bench to make all four of his shots in scoring nine points, while Darnell Brodie scored seven points and handed out a career-high five assists. Enright, a redshirt freshman, also came up with a career-high three steals and handed out four assists.

"Darnell (Brodie) is a really good passer," DeVries said. "We run a lot of sets with him being the facilitator. He did a great job on both ends of the floor and his role is different every night."

The Bulldogs came up with seven steals in all and forced 16 turnovers. They also got 25 points from the bench after getting only one at Indiana State.

This was the sixth time this season DeVries has scored at least 21 points. He knocked down 9-of-14 shots, including 4-for-8 from 3-point range, and led the team with six rebounds.
Brodie set the tone for his game at the outset, finding DeVries for a backdoor layup just 11 seconds into the game. DeVries returned the favor by feeding Brodie for a dunk 30 seconds later for a 4-0 lead.

After ties at 4-4 and 6-6, DeVries sank back-to-back 3-pointers to trigger the first-half run, which included 3s by Calhoun and Sturtz and produced a 29-12 lead.  Sturtz converted a reverse layup on a pass from Brodie to make it 37-16 and the Bulldogs led 39-19 at halftime.

A second 3 from Sturtz started an 11-0 burst to open the second half and when DeVries drove for a two-handed dunk, the Bulldogs led 54-23. They weren't as sharp down the stretch, but stayed comfortably ahead in winning for the seventh straight time at the Knapp Center.

The Bulldogs remain at home to face Omaha at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

TEAM NOTES
*Drake improved its record to 7-1, while evening its Missouri Valley Conference record to 1-1.
•Drake was outrebounded for the second straight game, 37-31, after owning a 21-16 rebounding advantage in the first half. 
•Drake improved to 18-7 in games following a conference loss under coach Darian DeVries
•Drake's bench, which scored just one point in its MVC opener at Indiana State Tuesday, accounted for 25 points tonight including 14 from Sardaar Calhoun.
•Drake improved to 6-0 this season when leading at half along with a 79-10 mark when that feat occurs under the Darian DeVries coaching era. 
•Drake is 59-8 at home during the Darian DeVries coaching era, winning its seventh straight home game dating back to last season 
•Drake also is 2-0 in Saturday games this season, 23-16 during the DeVries coaching era.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Swingman Tucker DeVries scored a game-high 25 points, including 14 in the first half. It marked the 11^th career 20-plus scoring game for DeVries, his sixth this season and fifth over the last six games.
•DeVries tied a seaso-high with four three-point baskets, marking the third game this season in which he has made four or more treys.
•Forward Sardaar Calhoun came off the bench to score 14 points, making his first basket in the last four games. Calhoun was 0-12 from the floor in his last three games before making three of 10 shots tonight. 
•Guard Conor Enright finished with nine points, making all four shots, including his first three-point basket over the last four games.  Enright had just two points in his previous two games combined.
•Center Darnell Brodie collected a team and career-high five assists
•Guard Garrett Sturtz added 13 points, while tying a career high with two three-point baskets.
•Guard Roman Penn added four assists along with two steals.
 
THE SERIES
•Drake, winning its third straight game against the Flames, improved its series record to 8-2 against UIC (6-1 in Des Moines).
•This was the first meeting between the schools since Drake earned an 83-62 victory Nov. 28, 2015.