THE BASICS
After a 77-68 victory over Loyola on Sunday to move into first place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, Drake men's basketball heads to Indiana State to take on the Sycamores at the Hulman Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).
SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
The Sycamores are currently 2-6 in MVC play after a 67-52 loss at Bradley on Sunday. Indiana State upended Missouri State in the Hulman Center on Jan. 25 by a final score of 76-72.
Josh Schertz is in his first season as the head coach at Indiana State after a dominant 13-year stint as the head coach at Division II Lincoln Me- morial compiling a record of 337-69 and is coming off an NCAA Division II Final Four appearance with the Railsplitters.
Lincoln Memorial transfer guard Cameron Henry averages 14.5 points per game and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game.
The Sycamores were picked to finish ninth in the MVC preseason poll.
INDIANA STATE SERIES NOTES
This will be the 94th meeting between Drake and Indiana State in men's basketball. The Sycamores lead the all-time series, 47-46.
Drake won both meetings played in the Hulman Center last season.
The Bulldogs have won eight of the last 10 meetings with the last Indiana State victory (58-56) occuring on Jan. 29, 2020 in Terre Haute.
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Tucker DeVries was selected as Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, the league announced on Monday (Jan. 31).
DeVries helped the Bulldogs to a pair of victories this past week over Illinois State and Loyola with an average of 15.5 points per game. He scored a team-high 18 points, distributed six assists and poked loose two steals on the road in an 89-88 overtime win over the Redbirds on Wednesday (Jan. 26). DeVries added 13 points (3-for-5 from beyond the arc) with three assists and a pair of steals in an 77-68 home win against Loyola on Sunday (Jan. 30).
AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Drake made a season high 25 free throws, including 19 of 20 shooting in the second half, which was a key factor in a home win against Loyola of Chicago Sunday.
Drake is one of two teams (Valparaiso) which has two players ranked in the top 11 in the MVC in free throw shooting. Guard
D.J. Wilkins is ranked fifth (.870), while forward
Tremell Murphy is ranked 11th (.815).
Wilkins has made 30 of his last 32 free throws over the last 13 contests, including his last 13 in a row.
Murphy has made 20 of his last 23 free throws covering the eight games, converting 13 of 16 charity attempts in the last two contests. Murphy also made seven of eight free throws, converting all six attempts in the 82-74 overtime at UNI.
Then there's reserve guard
Ayo Akinwole, who has made 35 straight free throws dating back to the 2020-21 campaign at Omaha when he closed out the season making his final 24 attempts. Akin- wole is 11-for-11 at the free throw line this season.
UP NEXT
Drake's next scheduled game is at the Knapp Center on Saturday (Feb. 5) against UNI. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the game will be aired on ESPNU.
