DES MOINES, Iowa – A sizzling start rocketed Drake into an early 20-point lead and the Bulldogs went on to beat Southern Illinois 82-59 at the Knapp Center on Saturday afternoon to remain tied for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.

"I liked the way we prepared," head coach Darian DeVries said. "Our guys came out with a great focus on both ends of the floor. We did a good job of setting the tone."

The Bulldogs held SIU scoreless for the first 5 ½ minutes, shot 60 percent in building a 45-22 halftime lead and won their seventh straight, improving to 21-6 overall and 12-4 in the league with four games left. SIU (19-8, 11-5) dropped out of a tie for first, while Bradley stayed even with the Bulldogs with an 83-48 victory over Murray State.

It was a stark contrast to the first game with SIU, a 53-49 Drake loss in Carbondale on Jan. 4. And no one turned things around more than graduate senior Roman Penn.
Penn, 1-for-15 from the field in that first game, led all scorers with 21 points in this one. Penn made 10-of-15 shots, including a 3-pointer, handed out eight assists, pulled down five rebounds and made a steal while committing just one turnover in 34 minutes on the floor.

Tucker DeVries finished with 15 points after playing only 5 ½ minutes in the first half and scoring just three points. With a free throw late in the game, DeVries reached 1,000 points for his career, the fourth member of the current team to hit that milestone, joining Penn, D.J. Wilkins and Garrett Sturtz.

Wilkins went 4-for-8 from 3-point range in scoring 12 points, Darnell Brodie put together an 11-point, 11-rebound effort for his sixth career double-double and Sardaar Calhoun gave the Bulldogs a big lift off the bench with three 3-pointers and 11 points.

Sturtz had another solid game with nine points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal. He also contributed on the defensive end by helping hold SIU's leading scorer, Marcus Domask, to five points, matching his season low, on 1-for-8 shooting.

"Our crowd has been amazing the past few games," Sturtz said. "It's a confidence boost when you see much support we have. We are really grateful for that and we hope that continues."

Lance Jones and Jawaun Newton led the Salukis with 13 points each. Southern Illinois shot just 36.5 percent and was down 20 before making its first basket.
Penn led the early charge as Drake raced to a 16-0 lead. He made a layup on a nice feed from Brodie just 9 seconds into the game, hit a turnaround jump shot, buried a 3-pointer and knocked down a jumper for the 15^th and 16^th points.

DeVries contributed a 3-pointer in that burst, Brodie scored on a putback ant Sturtz hit a runner on a pass from Penn.
Southern Illinois didn't score until Xavier Johnson made two free throws with 14:28 left in the half. The Salukis' first field goal didn't come until Johnson scored on a driving layup at the 13:13 mark.

Brodie converted an old-fashioned three-point play after working a pick-and-roll with Penn and Calhoun followed with a 3-pointer fading to his left for a 22-2 lead.

Things went so well for the Bulldogs that when Calhoun shot a 3 from the left wing that looked to be well off the mark, it banked in. Later, Calhoun had the ball the top of the key with the shot clock about to expire and fired up a shot. He fell backward onto the Bulldog logo at halfcourt and watched the ball drop in as the shot clock buzzer sounded.

Calhoun's banked-in 3 and a Wilkins trey stretched the lead to 32-7 and the Bulldogs enjoyed their biggest lead when Penn pump faked and canned a soft jumper in the lane to make it 45-17 with 2:20 left in the half.

Southern Illinois made one run in the second half, hitting five 3-pointers and converting a three-point play in drawing to 56-44. Drake responded with a 9-2 run that Wilkins capped with a shot-clock-beating trey to regain the momentum and then DeVries took over.

The Valley's leading scorer rattled off 12 straight Drake points, including a fadeaway in the lane and a crowd-pleasing step-back jumper, to stretch the lead to 77-54 and the Bulldogs were safely home.

Drake ended up shooting 56.9 percent for the game and finished 11-for-20 from 3-point range after starting the game 7-for-8.

"We shared the ball and played with great energy," Darian DeVries said. "When you get stops, you're able to get out in transition and play out in the open floor, which is a huge key against Southern Illinois."

The Bulldogs head up to Cedar Falls to play Northern Iowa on Wednesday, Feb. 15. They finish the season with home games against Belmont (Feb. 19) and Illinois State (Feb. 22) before winding things up at Bradley on Sunday, Feb. 26.

TEAM NOTES

• This marked the sixth time Drake owned a 20-plus point halftime lead, including the fourth time in an MVC game.
• Drake improved to 9-1 this season when scoring 40 or more points in the first half, including a 6-0 mark in MVC games.
• Drake improved to 11-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points including 52-1 during the Darian DeVries era.
• Drake has won seven straight games, which is the team's longest win streak this season.
• This marked the 16th time Drake enjoyed a double-figure halftime lead.
• Drake improved to 15-3 when leading at half
• Drake opened the game with a 16-0 run -- its 18th run of 10-0 or more this season

 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Roman Penn has scored at least 16 points in Drake's last six games.
• Tucker DeVries eclipsed 1,000 career points (now at 1,008) in only 62 career games.
• Roman Penn (1,519) and D.J. Wilkins (1,502) have both eclipsed 1,500 career points.
• D.J. Wilkins connected on four 3-pointers for ninth time this season and 45^th time of his career to move alone in third all-time (288) in the MVC for career 3-pointers made.
• Penn is one behind Ryan Sears for 10^th all-time on the MVC career assists list with 569.
• With 11 points and 11 rebounds, Darnell Brodie put together his fourth double-double this season and the sixth of his career.
• Sardaar Calhoun contributed 11 points off of the bench.

 
THE SERIES

• SIU leads the all-time series, 61-42.
• Drake have won six of the last seven meetings against the Salukis.
• The Bulldogs are 27-24 against Southern Illinois in games played in Des Moines.