THE BASICS
Top-seeded Drake will be making its first appearance in the College Basketball Invitational March 19-23 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla. Drake's first round matchup is against No. 16 seed Purdue Fort Wayne at 11 a.m. CT/12 p.m. ET. The first round and quarterfinal games will be streamed live on Flo Hoops and a paid subscription is required for viewing. The game will be broadcasted live on radio via ESPN Des Moines 1350/102.1 and the Varsity Network App.
This marks the fifth different post-season tournament Drake has played in with previous trips to the NCAA (1969, 1970, 1971, 2008, 2021) as well as the NIT (1964, 1981, 1986), the College Insiders Tournament (2009, 2012, 2018, 2019) and the National Commissioner Invitational Tournament of which Drake won the title in 1975.
This is the third post-season appearance by Drake during the four-year coaching tenure of
Darian DeVries, who guided the Bulldogs to the 2021 NCAA Tourna- ment as well as the College Insiders Tournament in his first year in 2019. He also has guided Drake to at least the semifinal round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in each of his four seasons at the Drake helm, including the championship game the past two seasons.
SCOUTING PURDUE FORT WAYNE
The Mastodons finished the regular season in a tie for first place in the Horizon League with Cleveland State.
As the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, Purdue Fort Wayne lost to No. 3 seed Northern Kentucky, 57-43.
Senior guard and All-Horizon League First Team selection Jarred Godfrey leads the Mastodons in scoring with 15.2 points per game.
Purdue Fort Wayne averages 8.8 steals per game and Godfrey leads the way forcing 60 steals. Loyola transfer and 5th-year guard Jalon Pipkins averages 13.6 points per game and has swiped 51 steals this season.
Moline, Ill., native and junior guard Deonte Billups provides a spark off of the bench (9.0 PPG, 40.7 3PT%, 41 steals). Vermont transfer and senior forward Ra Kpedi averages a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game and is efficient around the basket.
Jon Coffman has been in Fort Wayne with the Mastodons since 2011 when he became an assistant and was promoted to head coach in 2014.
Formerly known as IPFW and Fort Wayne, the name change to Purdue Fort Wayne was made official in 2017.
The Mastodons moved to Division-I in 2007 and made the move from the Summit League to the Horizon League to start the 2020-21 season.
PURDUE FORT WAYNE SERIES NOTES
Drake won the only previous meeting between the two teams, 74-64 on Dec. 8, 2012.
ALL-MVC & POSTSEASON HONORS
Drake was well represented with postseason accolades as multiple Bulldogs collected numerous honors. Below are Drake's honorees:
Tucker DeVries
-MVC Freshman of the Year
-2nd Team All-MVC
-MVC All-Newcomer Team -MVC All-Freshman Team
-MVC All-Tournament Team
-NABC All-District Second Team
Roman Penn
-3rd Team All-MVC
-MVC Scholar-Athlete 1st Team -MVC All-Tournament Team
Garrett Sturtz
-2nd Team All-MVC
-MVC Most Impoved Team -MVC Scholar-Athlete 1st Team
D.J. WiIkins
-MVC All-Defensive Team
ShanQuan Hemphill
-MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention
TOURNAMENT TESTED
Drake played 12 games during the 2021-22 cam- paign against seven teams which are competing in post season play including three teams which are in the NCAA Tournament: Alabama, Loyola, Richmond; as well as four teams playing in the NIT: Belmont, Missouri State, North Texas and Northern Iowa.
CBI FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE
Game 1: No. 1 Drake vs. No. 16 Purdue Fort Wayne, Saturday at noon ET
Game 2: No. 4 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 13 UNC Asheville, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET
Game 3: No. 2 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 15 California Baptist, Saturday at 5 p.m. ET
Game 4: No. 3 Ohio vs. No. 14 Rice, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 5: No. 8 VMI vs. No. 9 UNC Wilmington, Sunday at noon ET
Game 6: No. 5 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 12 Northern Colorado, Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET
Game 7: No. 7 UNC Greensboro vs. No. 10 Boston University, Sunday at 5 p.m. ET
Game 8: No. 6 Abilene Christian vs. No. 11 Troy, Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET
