DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team sent its seniors out in style, racing past Illinois State 82-51 at the Knapp Center on Wednesday night for the Bulldogs' 10^th straight victory.

Sophomore Tucker DeVries led the Senior Night effort with 18 points as the Bulldogs (24-6, 15-4 Missouri Valley Conference) remained tied with Bradley for first place, setting up a winner-take-all showdown with the Braves in Peoria on Sunday for the regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the MVC tournament.

The four seniors who were honored in a postgame ceremony followed DeVries in the scoring. Garrett Sturtz added 14 points, Roman Penn and D.J. Wilkins each scored 12 and Sardaar Calhoun contributed nine off the bench.

"Sardaar joined us a year and a half ago," head coach Darian DeVries said. "He has shown up every single day with a smile. He has loved and enjoyed every moment he got to be here with this group."

It was the 162^nd game for Sturtz, who has played in more games than any player in MVC history. He joined the team has a walk-on in 2018, made his first appearance in the fourth game of that season and has played in every Drake game since.

Wilkins, playing in his 157^th game, knocked down four 3-pointers, while Penn, who transferred in from Siena after the 2017-18 season, added seven rebounds and three assists to his line.

"Five years ago, these three came here (Penn, Sturtz, Wilkins) and believed in something that there was no playbook for. I told these guys that I would treat them like sons," Darian DeVries said. "They have become sons. These are incredible people and I can't wait to see what their next phase of life looks like."

Redshirt junior Nate Ferguson delivered another solid game off the bench with five points, six rebounds and two blocks. Darnell Brodie helped out inside with seven rebounds and five points.

The 10 straight victories are the fifth longest winning streak in program history and the 15 conference wins match the school record. Since scoring just 49 points in back-to-back road losses to Missouri State and Southern Illinois at the beginning of January, Drake has won 13 of 14 and averaged 80.9 points in that span. Nine of Drake's MVC victories have been by double-figures.

Darius Burford led Illinois State (10-20, 5-14) with 16 points, but the Bulldogs held him to two points in the second half. Seneca Knight added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Redbirds, who lost their sixth straight.

Drake struggled to get stops early but managed to take a 42-32 halftime lead, then outscored Illinois State 40-19 in a dominant second half. Illinois State shot just 23 percent in the second half (6-for-26) and went 1-for-10 from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs shot 49 percent, outrebounded the Redbirds 38-32 and came up with nine steals, helping them to a 19-4 edge in points off turnovers.

Drake made seven of its first 10 shots but led just 17-15 at that point. Knight and Burford hit consecutive 3-pointers to lift the Redbirds into a 21-20 lead, but Sturtz answered with a spinning layup, Penn hit a jumper and Wilkins buried a 3 for a 27-21 lead. The Bulldogs never trailed again.

Penn's trey and DeVries' two free throws after a steal gave Drake its first double-digit lead, 36-25, and a Sturtz bucket inside after he faked two defenders off their feet gave the Bulldogs their 10-point lead at the half.

Drake missed a handful of shots at the start of the second half, finally getting one to fall when Penn lobbed to Calhoun on an inbounds play and Sardaar slammed it home with one hand for a 46-32 lead. After Illinois State drew to 46-36, the Bulldogs blew it open.

Calhoun stole the ball at the Bulldogs' end of the floor and hit a double-pump layup, launching a 21-4 run that stretched the lead 67-40. DeVries had 11 points in that burst, including seven straight at one stretch, and the Redbirds never recovered.

"We really challenged the guys defensively at halftime," Darian DeVries said. "I thought we did a tremendous job in the second half and it sort of snowballed for us."

Calhoun's corner 3 on a pass from DeVries and two Ferguson free throws made it 72-42 and Darian DeVries soon took his seniors out to standing ovations. Sturtz went first with 4:15 left. Calhoun, Wilkins and Penn followed at the 2:27 mark.

Drake and Bradley will meet in Peoria, Ill., at 3 p.m. Sunday in a game televised by ESPN2. The Bulldogs beat Bradley 86-61 in Des Moines back on Jan. 14.

TEAM NOTES
•Drake, earning its 10th straight victory, improved to 24-6 overall,  while maintaining a share of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 15-4 record.
•This marks the sixth time Drake has posted 24 or more wins in a season, including the third straight year.
1968-69: 26-5
2007-08: 28-5
2018-19: 24-10
2020-21: 26-5
2021-22: 25-11
2022-23: 24-6
•The 15 victories in MVC play tied a school record shared by the 2020-21 & 2007-08 Drake teams which went 15-3 in the MVC.
•Nine of Drake's MVC wins have been by double-digits.
•The 10-game winning streak is the longest at the school since the 2020-21 Drake team opened the season with an 18-0 start and the fifth-best winning streak in school history, trailing 21 in 2007-08, 18 in 2020-21, 12 in both 1968-69 and 1969-70.
•Drake, winning its fifth straight home game, closed out the home season with a 14-1 record marking the fourth straight season Drake has won 14 home games.
•Drake has gone 83-10 at home since the 2017-18 season.
•Drake's bench scored 21 points, improving its record to 12-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference games whenever the reserves score 10 or more points.
•Drake, which owned a 42-32 halftime lead, improved to 18-3 this season when leading at half including a 91-13 under coach Darian DeVries. 
•Drake outrebounded Illinois State, 38-32, pushing its record to 20-1 when outrebounding opponents this season, including a 92-14 record during the DeVries coaching era.
•This marked the 18th time Drake has enjoyed a double-figure halftime lead - including the 12th time in an MVC game.
•Drake is 12-1 this season when scoring 40 or more points in the first half, including a 9-0 mark in MVC games.
•Drake had four players score in double figures, improving its record to 9-1 when that feat occurred.
•Drake moved to 13-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points and 54-1 during the DeVries coaching era.
•Drake moved to 6-3 on games played on Wednesday this season and 28-8 during the DeVries coaching era.
•After scoring 49 points in back-to-back losses at Missouri State and Southern Illinois, Drake is averaging 80.9 points (shooting 49 percent from the floor) over its last 14 games.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Sophomore swingman Tucker DeVries led a balanced attack with 18 points along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. 
•DeVries moved into No. 9 on the Drake single-season scoring list at 556 points, passing Rayvonte Rice who scored 555 in 2011-12.
•Graduate swingman Garrett Sturtz, appearing in an MVC all-time record 162nd career game (also NCAA active games leader), collected 14 points and five rebounds.
•Sturtz, also appearing in his final collegiate home game, increased his school career rebound total to 908 boards. That also moved him into No. 29 on the MVC all-time list, passing Barney Cable from Bradley who had 907 rebounds from 1955-58.
•Graduate guards Roman Penn and D.J. Wilkins each scored 12 points.
•Graduate guard D.J. Wilkins made four three-point baskets, improving his school record career three-point baskets total to 296.
•It also marked the 11th time Wilkins has made three or more treys in a game this season, including the 47th time in his career.
•Penn increased his school career record assists total to 585 with that figure also ranking No. 11 on the MVC career assists list. 
•Penn ranks No. 5 on the Drake single-season assists list at 153.
•Penn and Darnell Brodie led Drake with seven rebounds apiece.
•Sardaar Calhoun came off the bench with nine points, while sophomore redshirt junior Nate Ferguson collected five points along with six rebounds.
 
THE SERIES
•Drake won its sixth straight game against Illinois State but still trails in the overall series, 65-38.
•The Bulldogs, winning their fourth straight home game against the Redbirds dating back to 2020, own a 25-20 lead in the series in games played in Des Moines.
•This was Drake's second 30-plus point win against Illinois State in the past four meetings, earning a 95-60 romp in Des Moines on Feb. 1, 2021.