MURRAY, Ky. – Drake men's basketball secured its 20^th win for the fifth consecutive season in an impressive 92-68 victory at Murray State inside the CFSB Center on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
 
Tucker DeVries put on a clinic to match his season-high of 32 points in back-to-back games on 10-of-16 shooting from the field. He also tied his career-high of six 3-pointers made in a single game (6-for-8 from behind the arc.)

"I thought this was a tough road trip," head coach Darian DeVries said. "Our guys were really locked in throughout the game. We had a terrific practice yesterday and our team was engaged during shootaround today. We wanted to come out swinging and we did a great job of that tonight."
 
The Bulldogs raced out to a speedy start as D.J. Wilkins drained a corner trifecta to force an early Murray State timeout with the visitors leading 10-1 a little over two minutes into the contest. DeVries drove inside to float in a shot from The Valley logo as Drake controlled an 18-3 advantage at the 15:12 mark.
 
Eight minutes into the game, DeVries outscored the entire Murray State team 13-8. DeVries received a well-earned breather on the bench and the Bulldogs kept rolling. Roman Penn weaved his way into the lane to sink a floater as Drake led 31-16 with 8:59 remaining in the first half.
 
Jamari Smith connected on an open 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 41-29 with a little over five minutes to go before halftime.
 
DeVries racked up 22 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting from the field including a 4-of-5 stretch from beyond the arc.
 
Only two minutes elapsed in the second half before DeVries reached 30 points on the night following back-to-back treys for a 65-41 lead.
 
The Bulldogs continued to deliver high-intensity plays at both ends of the floor to balloon their lead to 89-63 when Penn connected on a second chance bucket.

Drake will return home to play host to Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11. 

TEAM NOTES
•Drake, earning its sixth straight victory, improved to 20-6 overall, while moving into first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 11-4 record. The Bulldogs have won nine of their last 10 games.
•This marked Drake's fifth consecutive 20-win season for the first time in program history. 
•The Bulldogs won their fifth straight road game while improving their record on the road to 5-5.
•Drake made 12 three-point baskets, improving to 7-0 this season when making 10 or more treys.
•Drake shot 58.9 percent (33-56) improving to 7-0 when shooting over 50 percent this season
Tucker DeVries which gave the Bulldogs a 73-71 lead.
•Drake moved to 10-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points and 51-1 under the DeVries coaching era.
•Drake's bench scored 20 points, improving its record 9-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference games whenever the reserves score 10 or more points.
•Drake, which one d a 55-39 halftime lead, improved to 14-3 this season in overcoming a halftime deficit including 87-13 under coach Darian DeVries. 
•Drake out rebounded Murray State 37-26, pushing its record to 16-1 when outrebounding opponents this season, including an 88-14 record during the DeVries coaching era.
•Drake moved to 4-0 on games played on Tuesday this season and 16-5 during the DeVries coaching era.
•This marked the first time Drake played a basketball game in the state of Kentucky since the Bulldogs lost at Louisville, 95-76, Jan. 17, 1976

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Sophomore forward Tucker DeVries matched his career-high of 32 points, including 22 in the first half. 
•It marked DeVries 14th 20-plus scoring game (19th of his career) and second consecutive 30-plus scoring game after tallying a then career-high 32 points at Valparaiso Saturday. 
•DeVries tied a career high with six three-point baskets, marking the 13th time he has made three or more treys in a game (25th time in career).
•Graduate guard Roman Penn added 18 points along with five rebounds.
•Penn enjoyed his fourth game this season without making a turnover.
•Garrett Sturtz enjoyed his seventh double double this season ((15th of his career) with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.  It also marked his ninth double figure rebounding game of the season (18th of career) and pushed his school record rebounding total to 886 boards.
•Graduate guard D.J. Wilkins, ranked No. 8 on the Drake career scoring list, scored eight points to push his career totals to 1,490 points.
•Penn dished out a team-high six assists pushing his school record career total to 561.
•Graduate swingman D.J. Wilkins made two three-point baskets to push his school career three-point baskets made total to 284.
 
THE SERIES
•Drake, winning its third straight game in the series, improved its all-time record against Murray State to 3-2.