DES MOINES, Iowa – With the announcement of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule, the 2022-23 Drake men's basketball schedule is now complete. The slate which includes a total of 11 non-conference games and 20 MVC competitions.
The Bulldogs play a total of 16 home contests in the renovated Knapp Center, beginning with an exhibition game against Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 3 followed by the regular season opener against IUPUI.
Wofford visits Des Moines on Nov. 14 before Drake participates in the Paradise Jam (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands) Nov. 18-21.
Thanksgiving weekend will come to a close on Nov. 26 with a home game versus Louisiana. The MVC portion of the schedule will begin on Nov. 30 at Indiana State before The Valley home opener on Dec. 3 versus UIC.
Omaha makes the short 2-hour trip to Iowa's capital city on Dec. 7. The Bulldogs have road matchups with A-10 opponents on back-to-back weekends (Dec. 10 at Richmond and Dec. 17 at Saint Louis).
Drake takes on power-5 competition on Dec. 20 in Lincoln, Neb., against Mississippi State for the Battle in the Vault. The non-conference slate concludes at home on Dec. 22 against Saint Ambrose.
MVC play resumes on Dec. 29 with the Bulldogs playing host to Valparaiso. A road trip will open the new year with road games at Missouri State (Jan. 1) and Southern Illinois (Jan. 4).
Murray State races into the Knapp Center on Jan. 7 before an early week tilt at UIC on Jan. 10. Drake is home the rest of the week against Bradley (Jan. 14) and Missouri State (Jan. 18) before a trip to Evansville on Jan. 21.
The Sycamores of Indiana State head to Des Moines on Jan. 24 preceding the Bulldogs traveling south to Nashville for a clash at Belmont on Jan. 29.
The rivalry with UNI will not commence until Feb. 1 inside the Knapp Center followed by a road swing to Valparaiso (Feb. 4) and Murray State (Feb. 7). Southern Illinois comes to town on Feb. 11 before Drake's return trip to UNI on Feb. 15. Belmont will wrap up that weekend on Feb. 19 at Drake and Illinois State faces the Bulldogs for the only time of the season on Feb. 22 in Des Moines.
In the regular season finale, Drake will be in Peoria, Ill., to battle Bradley on Feb. 26. As part of the new 20-game conference slate, Drake men's basketball will play Evansville and Illinois State only once in 2022-23.
The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament will take place from March 2-5 in St. Louis, Mo., at the Enterprise Center.
Season tickets are currently on sale and available at draketix.com/mbb.
