DES MOINES, Iowa – Atin Wright's fast start and 24 points sent the Drake men's basketball team on its way to a 92-55 victory over Alcorn State on Tuesday night in the final non-conference game of the season played at the Knapp Center.

Playing without leading scorer Tucker DeVries, who did not play because of a shoulder issue, the Bulldogs rolled in a game that produced numerous season highs for the team and individuals and lifted their record to 11-1, matching the third-best start in school history.

"We knew we needed somebody to pick us up tonight and Atin (Wright) got us off to a great start," head coach Darian DeVries said. "He has practices where he goes off on a mini-run by himself."

It was Drake's 12^th consecutive victory at home and 43^rd straight non-conference home win, the third-longest streak in Missouri Valley Conference history. The Bulldogs have won eight straight overall heading into their final non-conference game, a 2 p.m. contest at UAB on Friday.

Wright fell one point short of his season-high with his fourth 20-plus game and knocked down a season-best five 3-pointers to go with four assists and four steals. Kyron Gibson added a season-high 19 points, Kevin Overton scored 13 and freshman Carlos Rosario recorded season-bests in points (10), rebounds (5), assists (3) and minutes (20:14).

Darnell Brodie reached a season-high with his 12 rebounds and scored six points, while Eric Northweather made a couple of 3-pointer in notching a season-best seven points. Freshman Colby Garland got his first collegiate start filling in for DeVries and finished with seven points, five rebounds, four assists and only two turnovers in more than 30 minutes of action.

As a team, the Bulldogs reached season highs in points, rebounds (54) and blocks (7) and matched their season best with 12 3-pointers.

As DeVries watched from the bench, teammate Conor Enright left the game at the 8:04 mark of the first half and did not return.

Alcorn State (1-11), playing the 10^th of 14 straight road games, got 19 points from Jeremiah Kendall. The Bulldogs held the Braves to 20 percent shooting (6-for-30) in the first half and 31 percent for the game.

Wright got things started by hitting consecutive 3s from the right wing to force an Alcorn State timeout just 1:25 into the game. After an Alcorn State trey, Wright buried another 3 from the left wing for a 9-3 lead.

Alcorn State trailed just 11-8 when Jalen Hawkins knocked down a 3-pointer, but the Braves missed their next 11 shots and the Bulldogs took advantage, rattling off 15 straight points with seven different players scoring. It was Drake's ninth run of at least 10-0 this season. That number grew to 10 with a 14-0 burst in the second half.

A highlight came when Rosario scrambled for a loose ball and fed Brodie for a two-handed slam to make it 21-8. Rosario then drilled a 3 from the left corner and Wright capped the burst by driving the baseline for a nifty reverse layup.

When Wright hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half less than a minute later, he had personally outscored the Braves 14-10 and the Bulldogs led by 19. It quickly grew 32-10 when Garland faked out two defenders, got fouled as he made a layup and sank the free throw to complete an old-fashioned three-point play.

Wright fed Nate Ferguson for a two-handed dunk for a 37-14 lead and the Bulldogs led by as many as 27 before settling for a 41-16 lead at the half. It was Drake's biggest halftime lead of the season and the ninth by double figures. Nine players saw action in the half and all nine scored.

"I loved our first half," Darian DeVries said. "We were terrific defensively. Alcorn State has been hard to guard this season and they are a team that can score. The first half set the tone for the outcome of the game."

Gibson hit a 3-pointer early in the second half and ended up scoring 17 points over the final 20 minutes, including nine in a row as the Bulldogs went on a 14-0 run to stretch the lead to 89-53. Northweather then topped things off with a 3-pointer in the final minute.

"I thought our smaller lineup was great in transition," Darian DeVries said. "Overall, our bench was great. Kyron (Gibson) gave us great minutes. We had a good overall effort."

Once the Bulldogs built a 58-28 lead when Wright converted a three-point play off a steal, the margin never fell below 22.

TEAM NOTES
•Drake, winning its eighth straight game, improved to 11-1 this season matching the third-best start (11-1 by 1968-69 Final Four squad) in school history trailing only the 18-0 start by the 2020-21 team and the 22-1 start by the 2007-08 squad.
•The Bulldogs extended their non-conference home winning streak to 43 games— which is the third longest streak by a Missouri Valley Conference school since World War II, trailing only 61 by Bradley (Dec. 1962-Dec. 1969) and 51 by Cincinnati (Dec. 1957-Dec. 1963).
•Drake won its 12th straight home game, improving its home record in the Knapp Center to 76-9 dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
•Drake scored a season-high 92 points, improving its record to 59-1 during the Darian DeVries coaching era when scoring 80 or more points in a game.
•Drake tied a season-high with 12 three-point baskets, marking the fifth time it has made 10 or more treys in a game including the third straight contest.
•Drake's bench scored a season-high 40 points.
•Drake collected a season-high six blocked shots.
*Drake outrebounded Alcorn State, with a season-best 54-33 margin, improving its record to 5-0 when outrebounding opponents and 99-14 during the Darian DeVries coaching era.
•Drake's 15-0 run midway through the first half was the team's ninth double-digit scoring run of the season
•Drake owned a 41-16 halftime lead — surrendering the fewest points to an opponent in a half this season, bettering the previous first half low of 19 by Nevada.
•It was Drake's biggest halftime cushion of the season and third double-digit halftime lead.
•Drake is 9-0 when leading at half this season and 102-13 during the Darian DeVries coaching era.
•Drake is 3-0 on Tuesday games this season and 19-5 during the Darian DeVries coaching era.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Junior transfer guard Atin Wright enjoyed his fourth 20-plus scoring game of the season with a game-high 24 points. 
•Wright had 16 points in the first half equaling the entire team output of 16 by Alcorn State. 
•Wright made a season-high five three-point baskets.
•Sophomore guard Kyron Gibson added a season-high 19 points.
•Darnell Brodie grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds — his 20th double-figure rebounding game of his career.
•Freshman guard Colby Garland made his first collegiate start for Drake, responding with seven points, five rebounds and four assists.
•Carlos Rosario collected a career high 10 points and five rebounds while playing a career-high 20 minutes.
• Eric Northweather scored a season-high seven points and grabbed a season-high four rebounds while attempting a season-high 10 shots.
•Tucker DeVries, the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, missed Tuesday's game because of a shoulder issue. It marked just the second time in his three-year career that he missed a Drake game. Tonight ended his streak of 33 consecutive home starts in a Drake uniform dating back to the 2021-22 season.
 
THE SERIES
•Drake improved its series record against Alcorn State to 2-0. The only previous meeting was a 63-49 home victory by Drake on Dec. 28, 1987.