The Basics
The Drake (16-6, 7-4) men's basketball team will travel to the Curb Event Center in Nashville for the first time ever to take on the Belmont Bruins (16-6, 9-2) in a 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon showdown.
 
Broadcast Information
Sunday's game will be televised live on ESPN2 with play-by-play broadcaster Clay Matvick and analyst Kevin Lehman.

102.1/1350 ESPN Des Moines is the radio home of Drake men's basketball with Michael Admire back to describe the play-by-play with Paul Doerrfeld providing analysis.

Scouting Belmont
The Bruins enter Sunday on a seven-game winning streak dating back to Jan. 4. Belmont's last loss occurred on Jan. 1 in a 63-45 setback at Southern Illinois. The Bruins have yet to lose a Missouri Valley Conference game at home this season (5-0). Belmont is currently tied with Southern Illinois at the top of the MVC standings with a 9-2 conference record.
 
Belmont's only home loss this season was back on Dec. 10, 2022 in a 85-75 overtime defeat against Middle Tennessee. Belmont completed the regular season sweep over Bradley on Jan. 21, 78-76 to snap Bradley's home winning streak.
 
The Bruins fended off Evansville's best shot in a 73-64 victory at the Ford Center on Wednesday night with senior guard Ben Sheppard putting together a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie added a season-high 18 points and dished out six assists to help Belmont past the Purple Aces.
 
Sheppard (18.7 points per game) only trails Tucker DeVries as the MVC's leading scorer. He also averages 5.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists. Graduate student forward Drew Friberg has been reliable averaging 12.5 points and 3.9 rebounds.
 
Belmont moved to the MVC from the Ohio Valley Conference in July of 2022 and the Bruins were picked to finish sixth in the 2022-23 MVC preseason poll.
 
Belmont alumnus Casey Alexander is in his fourth season leading the Bruins after a six-year stint across town at Lipscomb.

Series vs. Belmont
Belmont won the only previous meeting, 74-69 during the ESPN Events Invitational on Nov. 25, 2021. Roman Penn scored 12 points with five assists while Tucker DeVries also added 12 points. Garrett Sturtz hauled in a team-high 11 rebounds.

3J For the Win
D.J. Wilkins hit a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a dramatic 70-68 victory over Indiana State at the Knapp Center on Tuesday night. Drake called an immediate timeout and then another with 11.2 seconds to go after getting the ball into the frontcourt. Tucker DeVries, who led the Bulldogs with 21 points on Tuesday, drove into the lane and missed a close-in bank shot, but the ball was tipped out to Wilkins at the top of the key and he buried the game winner, sending the Sycamores to their fifth straight loss.
 
Sturtz Closing in on Career Rebounding Record
6'3" Garrett Sturtz has secured 852 career rebounds, only three rebounds away from passing Melvin Mathis (854 rebounds from 1982-86) as Drake's all-time leader in rebounds.
 
Up Next
Drake returns home to the Knapp Center on Wednesday, Feb. 1 to host rival UNI at 8 p.m.