THE BASICS
Top-seeded Drake took care of business in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational with an 87-65 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, March 19 to set up a quarterfinal matchup against No. 9 seed UNCW on Monday, March 21 at 12 p.m. CT inside the Ocean Center. The quarterfinal game against UNCW will be streamed live via FloHoops (paid subscription required) and will air live on radio with 1350/102.1 ESPN Des Moines as well as the Varsity Network app.

NOTES AFTER CBI FIRST ROUND
•Drake improved its record to 25-10, marking the second straight season the Bulldogs have won 25 games and fourth time in program history (1968-69, 2007-08, 2020-21, 2022-23).
•This marked the second straight year Drake has won a game in a post-season tournament after claiming a victory past Wichita State in the 2021 NCAA Tournament First Four.
•Darian DeVries improved his record to 95-39 at Drake moving into a tie for No. 3 on the school all-time coaching victory list with Gary Garner (1981-88).
•Drake posted three season highs: field goal percentage-.590; baskets made-36; and assists-22.
•Drake shot 59 percent (36-61) against Purdue Fort Wayne including a sizzling 64.3 percent (18-28) in the half while improving its record to 9-1 when shooting 50percent or better in a game this season.
•Drake had five players reach double-figure scoring, while improving its record to 6-1 when that feat occurred. 
•Drake made 11 three-point baskets, improving its record to 8-1 when making 10 or more three-point baskets in a game.
•Okay Djamgouz paced a balanced scoring attack with a career-high 20 points, while making a career-high six high three-point baskets
•Garrett Sturtz and Tucker DeVries added 14 points apiece, while ShanQuan Hemphill had 11 points and Tremell Murphy 10.
•Tucker DeVries moved into No. 6 on the Missouri Valley Conference all-time freshman single season scoring list with 488 points, passing Milton Doyle of Loyola of Chicago who scored 478 points in 2013-14.
•One game after setting a career high with five blocked shots against Loyola of Chicago, Tucker DeVries tied a career high with six assists. That allowed DeVries to move into third on the Drake freshman single-season assists list at 74, passing Reed Timmer (2014-15) who had 70
*Tucker DeVries made two three-point baskets to move into a tie with Reed Timmer (2014-15) for second on the Drake single-season freshman three-point basket list at 74.
 
SCOUTING UNCW
The Seahawks are 24-9 overall after a 93-78 win over No. 8 seed VMI in the first round of the CBI on Sunday, March 20.

UNCW advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament championship game and narrowly lost to Delaware, 59-55.
 
Senior guard Jaylen Sims leads the Seahawks with 16.2 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game and 80 total assists. Sims scored 18 points, grabbed eight boards and dished out seven assists in the victory over VMI.
 
Florida transfer Mike Okauru (13.1 points per game) poured in a game-high 27 points and went 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.

Takayo Siddle is in his second year as the head coach of UNCW and has a 31-19 overall record.  

UNCW assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie was the Drake men's basketball head coach from 1996-2003.

UNC WILMINGTON SERIES NOTES
This will be the first all-time meeting between Drake and UNCW in men's basketball.
 
CBI FIRST ROUND
Game 1: No. 1 Drake 87, No. 16 Purdue Fort Wayne 65
Game 2: No. 13 UNC Asheville 80, No. 4 Stephen F. Austin 68
Game 3: No. 2 Middle Tennessee 64, No. 15 California Baptist 58
Game 4: No. 3 Ohio 65, No. 14 Rice 64
Game 5: No. 9 UNCW 93, No. 8 VMI 78
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
 
CBI QUARTERFINALS
Game 9: Drake vs. UNCW, March 21 at 1 p.m. ET
Game 10: UNC Asheville vs. Game 6 winner, March 21 at 3:30 p.m. ET
Game 11: Middle Tennessee vs. Game 7 winner, March 21 at 6 p.m. ET
Game 12: Ohio vs. Game 8 winner, March 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET
 
CBI SEMIFINALS
Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, March 22 at 7 p.m. ET
Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, March 22 at 9 p.m. ET
 
CBI CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, March 23 at 5 p.m. ET