The Basics
The Drake (23-6, 14-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play) men's basketball team aims to close out the 2022-23 home schedule with a win against Illinois state (10-19, 5-13).
Sardaar Calhoun,
Roman Penn,
Garrett Sturtz and
D.J. Wilkins will be recognized in a postgame ceremony.
Broadcast Information
Wednesday's game will be televised live on Mediacom MC22 and simulcasted live on ESPN+ with play-by-play broadcaster Larry Morgan and analyst Adam Emmenecker.
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 Illinois State
Illinois State takes a five-game losing streak into Wednesday night's matchup. The Redbirds have not won since a 68-62 overtime victory over UIC on Feb. 1.
Darius Burford scored a game-high 23 points while Kendall Lewis collected a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds in an 80-64 loss last Saturday.
Burford averages a team-best 12.6 points and 2.5 assists this season. Lewis is the team's leading rebounder at 7.3 boards per game. Seneca Knight adds 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Illinois State was picked to finish 10th in the 2022-23 MVC Preseason Poll.
Ryan Pedon is in his first season as the head coach of the Redbirds after a five-year stint as an assistant coach at Ohio State. Pedon had stints on the coaching staffs of Butler (2015-17), Illinois (2013-15), Toledo (2010-13), Miami Ohio (2005- 10) and Kent State (2002-05).
Series vs. Illinois State
Illinois State leads the all-time series, 61-37. The Bulldogs have won five straight games against the Redbirds dating back to the 2019-20 season.
Darian DeVries carries a 7-3 record against Illinois State as a head coach.
Drake's Iron Man
Garrett Sturtz has played in 161 consecutive games, tied with Darius McGhee of Liberty for the longest active and all-time games played streak in NCAA Division-I history.
Of the 37 all-time MVC members, Sturtz is the shortest to lead his program in career rebounding.
Streaking
Drake men's basketball's nine-game winning streak is its longest since beginning the 2020-21 season 18-0 and it matches a nine-game conference winning streak accomplished during the same season.
Up Next
Drake will close out the regular season at Bradley on Sunday, Feb. 26.
