The Basics
The Drake (24-6, 15-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play) men's basketball team will attempt to win its first outright Missouri Valley Conference regular season title since 2008 against Bradley (22-8, 15-4) on Sunday, Feb. 26 at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill.
Broadcast Information
Sunday's game will be televised live on ESPN2 with play-by-play broadcaster Clay Matvick and analyst Kevin Lehman.
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 Bradley
Bradley enters Sunday on a nine-game winning streak, having last lost on Jan. 21 against Belmont (78-76) at home.
The Braves grinded out a 50-48 win at Southern Illinois on Feb. 19 before taking care of business at Valpo, 76-66 this past Wednesday.
Junior forward Rienk Mast is in the Larry Bird Award conversation averaging 14.0 points and 7.8 rebounds over the course of 24 games this season. Senior forward Malevy Leons can do a little bit of everything for the Braves averaging 11.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks.
Bradley was picked to finish second in the 2022- 23 MVC Preseason Poll with one first place vote.
Brian Wardle is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Braves with a 132-124 record at Bradley after a five-year stint at Green Bay.
Series vs. Bradley
Bradley leads the longstanding series, 92-69 The Braves had won three straight meetings in the series before this season when Drake defeated Bradley, 86-61 in the Knapp Center on Jan. 14.
Darian DeVries owns a 6-6 head-to-head record against Bradley.
MVC Winner Take All Games
A 'Winner Take All' game to determine the MVC regular season champion has occurred seven other times. Road teams have only won once in this scenario.
2-25-78 -- Creighton (11-4) beat S. Illinois (11-4)
2-27-82 – Bradley (12-3) beat Tulsa (12-3)
3-2-85 -- Tulsa (11-4), Illinois State (11-4), Wichita State (11-4) – Tulsa faced and beat Wichita State; Illinois State lost at Bradley
2-26-11 -- Missouri State (14-3) beat Wichita State (14-3)
3-2-13 -- Creighton (12-5) beat Wichita State (12-5)
2-28-15 -- Wichita State (16-1) beat UNI (16-1)
2-26-22 -- UNI (13-4) beat Loyola (13-4)
Let's Get Analytical
TORVIK
Based on offensive and defensive efficiency numbers on barttorvik.com, Drake is rated as the 19th best team in NCAA Division I men's basketball since Jan. 19.
KENPOM (ENTIRE 2022-23 SEASON)
-3rd best team off. rebound pct. defense (21.9) -13th best team free throw pct. (77.8)
-29th best Off Turnover Pct. (15.6)
-47th best Def. Efficiency (97.6)
-Roman Penn ranks 26th in assist rate (34.0)
-Garrett Sturtz ranks 38th in true shooting pct. (64.8) and 60th in effective field goal pct. (61.1)
NET
Drake jumped to 61 in the NET rankings on Feb. 24, one spot ahead of Bradley at 62.
Up Next
The MVC men's basketball tournament (Arch Madness) runs from March 2-5 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
