THE BASICS
Four seniors will play their final game in the Knapp Center as Drake closes out the home campaign, hosting Southern Illinois.

Assured no worse than a fourth-place finish, Drake is seeking to post back-to-back 13-plus wins in the Missouri Valley Conference for the first time since 1969 and 1970.
 
The Bulldogs closed out the road campaign with a 71- 65 victory at Valparaiso Wednesday, posting an MVC best 7-2 road record.

It was a special homecoming for four players from The Region (northwest Indiana) who combined for 47 of Drake's 71 points in the victory at Valparaiso.
 
D.J. Wilkins paced a balanced attack with 17 points, hitting eight of 11 shots. ShanQuan Hemphill came off the bench with 13 points and eight rebounds.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
The Salukis are currently 16-13 overall and 9-8 in Missouri Valley Conference play. SIU is on a four-game winning streak after a 90-69 victory over Illinois State on Wednesday night. Senior guard Ben Coupet Jr. scored a game-high 22 points while junior forward Marcus Domask scored 16 points and dished out nine assists.
 
Domask leads the Salukis with 14.8 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game and 115 total as- sists. Senior guard Lance Jones also averages 14.8 points a night and leads SIU in 3-point field goals made (55).
 
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SERIES NOTES
This will be the 100th meeting between Drake and Southern Illinois in men's basketball. SIU currently leads the series, 60-39.

Drake held on to defeat SIU, 60-59 in Carbondale on Jan. 17 as the Salukis failed to get a shot off in time during their final possession. Garrett Sturtz led the way with 16 points and eight rebounds. Tucker DeVries contributed 14 points and four as- sists in the narrow victory.
 
SENIOR SALUTE
Seniors Ayo Akinwole, ShanQuan Hemphill, Jonah Jackson and Tremell Murphy will be appearing in their last home game of their collegiate careers Saturday.

The foursome have combined to appear in 249 games, while scoring a combined 1,871 points. A four-year starter, Murphy will be making his 99^th start having scored 932 points. He was named to the 2021 MVC All-Tournament team.
 
Hemphill will be playing in his 48^th game for the Bulldogs, transferring to Drake after playing at Green Bay from 2018-2020. Named MVC Newcomer of the Year, 2nd team All-MVC and All-Newcomer and All-Defensive.

Akinwole has played in 30 games as Drake's top reserve guard transferring from Omaha where he played from 2017-2021.

Jonah Jackson has played in 74 games for Drake, starting as a freshman in 2019-20.
 
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Drake guards D.J. Wilkins (1,273) and Roman Penn (1,143) welcomed teammate Garrett Sturtz as the latest member of the 1,000 career point club this season.
 
Sturtz scored eight points at Valparaiso Wednesday, pushing his career totals 1,005

With at least two games remaining this year, teammates Tremell Murphy, Shanquan Hemphill and Ayo Akinwole aren't too far behind in joining the elite club. Hemphill has 984 points in his col- legiate career; Murphy 932 points and Akinwole, 920.
 
NO SWIPING!
A bright spot in recent games has been Drake's defense which has collected the most steals (210) of any team in the league, averaging 7.0 thefts per game.
 
Drake is averaging 17 points off turnovers in its last three games: scoring 25 points off Loyola miscues last Saturday followed by outscoring Indiana State, 16-2, in points off turnovers Mon- day, and outscoring Valparaiso,10-4, off miscues Wednesday.
 
Drake recorded 10 steals at Loyola last Saturday, marking the fourth time this season the Bulldogs have collected 10 or more steals in a game. Drake has collected seven or more steals in 12 of its last 14 games including seven against Indiana State Monday (Feb. 21).
 
Drake also leads the MVC in turnover margin at plus 2.4 this season.

ARCH MADNESS SEEDING SCENARIOS
Drake win, Evansville win and UNI win - 2 seed 
Drake win, Evansville loss, UNI win - 3 seed 
Drake win, Evansville loss, UNI loss - 4 seed 
Drake loss - 4 seed
 
SUIT UP AGAINST PEDIATRIC CANCER GAME
Pediatric cancer patients and their families are invited by the Drake men's basketball team for a memorable day of activities including:
- Pregame meal
- Pregame fun zone including inflatables and activities
- Halftime on-court participation hosted by Simon Sez
 
To refer a family please reach out to Director of Marketing, Aimee Lane at aimee.lane@drake.edu.