THE BASICS
With just three weeks remaining in the Missouri Valley Conference season, title contenders Drake and Missouri State hope to rebound from home setbacks when they meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside the Knapp Center.
Drake fell out of first place following a 74-69 overtime home loss to rival UNI Saturday, while Missouri State dropped a 71-62 home verdict to Loyola Sunday, allowing the Ramblers (9-2) to secure a half-game edge over second-place UNI (9-3). Drake owns an 8-3 league record, while Missouri State is 8-4.
SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE
The Bears are currently 17-8 overall and 8-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play after a 71-62 loss to Loyola on Sunday. Gaige Prim led the way for Missouri State with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Prim, a senior forward, averages 14.8 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Junior guard Isiaih Mosley has scored 40 or more points twice this season to average 20.7 points per game. Mosley has been a mainstay this season for the MVC Player of the Week award. He has dished out 54 assists and knocked loose a team-high 28 steals.
The Bears were picked to finish fourth in the MVC preseason poll.
MISSOURI STATE SERIES NOTES
This will be the 67th meeting between Drake and Missouri State in men's basketball. The Bears lead the all-time series, 45-21.
Missouri State bested the Bulldogs, 61-56 at JQH Arena earlier this season on Jan. 2.
Roman Penn returned from a foot injury that game and scored 13 points.
Garrett Sturtz put together a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Isiaih Mosley was limited to 7 points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field.
Drake went 3-0 against Missouri State during the 2020-21 campaign including a 71-69 victory in the semifinals of Arch Madness on March 6.
TRIPLE PLAY
Drake has made 10 or more three-point baskets in eight games this season, sporting a 7-1 record when that feat occurs.
The Bulldogs made 10 three-point baskets in an 85-67 victory at Indiana State Jan. 2 with three players making at least three treys in the same game for the third time this season.
Tucker DeVries,
Tremell Murphy and
D.J. Wilkins each made three three-point baskets against the Sycamores. The Bulldogs also achieved that feat against Chicago State (DeVries-3,
Okay Djamgouz-3,
Ayo Akinwole-4) and Mount Marty (Wilkins-4, Djamgouz-3,
Jonah Jackson-3).
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Tucker DeVries was selected as Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week for the second straight week, the league announced on Monday (Feb. 7).
DeVries averaged 14.5 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game and swatted away three shots over two games last week. He scored 14 points (3-for-4 from beyond the arc) and blocked two shots in an 85-67 win at Indiana State on Wednesday (Feb. 2). On Saturday (Feb. 5) against UNI, DeVries delivered a team-high 15 points, snagged eight rebounds, picked up a steal and blocked one shot.
DeVries has scored in double figures in 21 of 24 games including nine contests in a row. He leads Drake in scoring (13.5 points per game) and also has made a team-high 57 three-point baskets, making three or more treys in 11 games. DeVries has a chance to set Drake freshman single-season records for three-point baskets and scoring, currently ranking third and fifth, respectively, in those categories.
PENN APPROACHES ASSISTS RECORD
Roman Penn needs just two assists to become Drake's career leader in that department at 385, the current record holder is Glenn Martin who had 384 assists from 1984-88.
Penn dished out three assists against UNI on Saturday, surpassing Lonnie Randolph (2001-05, 382) into the No. 2 spot at 383.
In his first year as a starting guard at Drake in 2019-20, the Siena transfer dished out 192 assists which ranked No. 2 on the Drake single-season list, trailing only the school-record 192 assists by All-American Adam Emmenecker in 2007-08.
UP NEXT
Drake's next scheduled game is on the road at Bradley on Saturday (Feb. 12) at 7 p.m.
