THE BASICS
The Drake men's basketball team returns home to play host to Texas Southern for post-Thanksgiving hoops on Saturday night.
CAYMAN ISLANDS CLASSIC RECAP
The Bulldogs utilized a pair of 22-point outings from Kevin Overton (career-high) and Atin Wright to defeat Oakland, 85-77 in the opening round of the Cayman Islands Classic. Drake dished out 22 assists as a team as Darnell Brodie took over during the last 10 minutes of the game, finishing with a season-high 14 points.
Drake suffered its first loss of the season, a 92-68 defeat against Stephen F. Austin on Monday in the semifinal round after the Lumberjacks shot 63.0 percent from the field.
The Bulldogs picked up a big bounce-back 79-59 win in the third place game of the Cayman Islands Classic on Tuesday. Drake surrendered its fewest points of the season while Tucker DeVries scored 25 points in the second half for his second 30-point scoring output of the season (33 points). MVC Freshman of the Week Kevin Overton added 15 points in the win over the Zips.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's game will stream live worldwide on ESPN+ with Larry Morgan (play-by-play) and Orv Salmon (analyst). 1350/102.1 ESPN Des Moines is the radio home of Drake men's basketball with Michael Admire (play-by-play) and Paul Doerrfeld (analyst).
SCOUTING TEXAS SOUTHERN
The Tigers are searching for their first win of the season, entering with a record of 0-5.
Texas Southern has not played a home game so far this season and has endured a difficult schedule to this point with games at New Mexico (Mountain West), Arizona State (Pac-12), Virginia (ACC) and Creighton (Big East). The Tigers did not score over 55 points in any of those contests. TSU competed down the stretch at Oral Roberts on Nov. 21, but fell 65-63.
Senior guard and Incarnate Word transfer Jonathan Cisse has contributed 8.6 points per game and has dished out a team-high total of 13 assists this year. Redshirt senior forward and Memphis transfer Jahmar Young Jr. paces the Tigers averaging 6.0 rebounds to pair with 6.8 points a contest.
Shaqir O'Neal, son of Shaquille O'Neal, has played in all five games this season for Texas Southern including one start averaging 3.4 points and 2.8 rebounds while swiping three steals.
Johnny Jones is in his sixth season in charge of the Tigers after leading Texas Southern to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 winning the SWAC Tournament Championship. The Tigers went on to lose in the First Four to Fairleigh Dickinson, 84-61. Jones had previous head coaching stops at LSU (2012-17), North Texas (2005-12) and Memphis (interim, 1999-00). His overall record over 23 seasons stands at 386-311.
SERIES HISTORY VS. TEXAS SOUTHERN
Drake and Texas Southern have met on the basketball court two previous times, with DU leading the all-time series, 2-0. The Bulldogs beat the Tigers, 78-71 in Des Moines on Dec. 16, 1989 and did not play Texas Southern again until Nov. 13, 2010 in a 60-46 season opening win.
OH, IT'S OVERTON
Freshman guard Kevin Overton was named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week, the conference announced on Monday, Nov. 20.
Overton delivered on the offensive and defensive end for the Bulldogs last week. Overton added 19 points with five rebounds, a block and an assist in the 87-67 win last Tuesday against SW Minnesota State. Overton scored 22 points and swiped a steal in the 85-77 win versus Oakland to open the Cayman Islands Classic. Overton finished the week shooting 15-28 from the field and 8-17 from beyond the arc including five 3-pointers against Oakland.
The Oklahoma City native was named to the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament Team averaging 18.7 points and draining 11 shots from beyond the arc over the course of three games against Oakland, Stephen F. Austin and Akron.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will begin Missouri Valley Conference Play at Valparaiso on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.
