DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team bounced back in a big way and climbed back into a first-place tie in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Tucker DeVries scored 29 points and three teammates also reached double figures to power the Bulldogs past Indiana State 89-78 at the Knapp Center on Wednesday night and hand the Sycamores their first conference loss.

A crowd of 4,069 – the largest of the season – saw the Bulldogs (13-3, 4-1 MVC) survive an early barrage of Indiana State 3-pointers and then pull away in the second half as DeVries, Atin Wright and Kevin Overton started making shots.

"I love the energy that our crowd brings," head coach Darian DeVries said. "Incredible enthusiasm coming out on a snowy and cold night like tonight. They still made a positive impact for our team. You could feel it. I thought our guys played off of it during a big run there in that second half."

Drake is tied for first in the league with Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Belmont and Murray State heading into a game a Southern at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The impressive victory came three days after the Bulldogs struggled with their shooting in an 87-65 loss at Belmont. They struggled a bit early in this one, then got rolling in winning their 14^th straight home game dating back to last season and improve to 61-1 under coach Darian DeVries when scoring at least 80 points.

"I was extremely proud of the guys and the way they responded," Darian DeVries said. "We had a bad day on Sunday and we learned from it. We put it behind us and we got back to the way we like to play basketball. That's physical, tough and aggressive."

DeVries, playing like the guy who was voted the league's preseason player of the year, knocked down 6 of his 10 three-point shots, made all three of his free throws and added six rebounds and four assists. He moved past former teammate Roman Penn into 10^th place on the school's career scoring list, running his total to 1,425 points.

Wright scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and  Overton scored an efficient 16 points on just six shots. He went 4-for-6 from the field, including 3-for-5 from deep, and sank all five of his free throws. Darnell Brodie added 15 points and six rebounds, getting 13 of those points in the first half to keep the Bulldogs in it until the others found their touch.

Nate Ferguson gave the team some solid minutes off the bench, finishing with five points and six rebounds.

The Bulldogs also took care of the ball, committing a season-low three turnovers after giving it away a season-high 15 times at Belmont. Drake outscored Indiana State 18-1 in points off turnovers and 34-22 in the paint.

Drake fought its way into a 43-all tie at halftime despite Indiana State's nine 3-pointers. But the Sycamores, who are third nationally in 3-point shooting percentage, went just 2-for-11 from deep in the second half and finished 11-for-30.

DeVries matched his career high with his six 3s, helping the Bulldogs go 10-for-25 from beyond the arc. They shot 47 percent overall and were clutch at the free throw line, going 19-of-21.

Robbie Avila and Ryan Conwell led Indiana State (13-3, 4-1) with 17 points each. The Bulldogs held the Sycamores to 41 percent shooting, well below their league-leading .513 figure coming in.

Indiana State knocked down four 3s in the game's first 7 minutes opening an 18-10 lead and forcing a Drake timeout. Brodie promptly muscled his way through contact for a basket and sank the free throw and the Bulldogs started clawing their way back.

Brodie scooped in a turnaround shot to give Drake its first lead at 24-23. An Indiana State 3 pulled the Sycamores back ahead, but DeVries came off the screen to hit a trey from the left wing and followed that with a pullup 3-pointer for a 30-26 Drake lead.

The Bulldogs eventually built their lead to 43-37 on Overton's three-point play before Avila nailed back-to-back 3s from the top of the key for the tie at halftime.

A 9-2 run sent the Sycamores into a 52-45 lead before the Bulldogs rallied again. Wright banked in a floater to start a 9-0 burst that put Drake up 57-54 and Indiana State led only once after that, at 58-57 on Xavier Bledson's layup. Ferguson then scored inside for the ninth and final lead change of the game and Colby Garland followed with a jumper to make it 61-58.

After Indiana State drew to 61-60, Drake responded with a 20-6 run to go up 81-66 when Ferguson dropped in a baby hook. When Conor Enight found Overton in the right corner with a pass from halfcourt and Overton buried the 3, the Bulldogs led 87-70 with 3:33 left. That was more than enough cushion to hold on for the victory that made Drake the first team in the Valley with two Quad 1 wins, Nevada being the other.

TEAM NOTES
•Drake moved into a share of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with Indiana State, Belmont, Southern Illinois and Murray State with a 4-1 record.
•All four of Drake's Missouri Valley Conference wins have been in double figures.
•The Bulldogs improved their overall record to 13-3.
•With the victory Drake has become the only school in the MVC with two Quad 1 wins this season beating Indiana State (#28 on NET) and Nevada (#30 on NET).
•Drake extended its home winning streak to 14 games dating back to last year, including a 9-0 mark this season
•Just one game after committing a season-high 15 turnovers at Belmont, Drake committed a season-low three turnovers improving to 8-0 this season when committing 10 or fewer turnovers in a game.
•Drake outscored Indiana State, 18-1, in points off turnovers.
•Drake moved to 7-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points...61-1 during the Darren DeVries coaching era.
•Drake made 10 three-point baskets improving to 7-0 this season when that feat occurred.
•Drake tied a school record with zero turnovers in the first half, while scoring 12 points off nine Indiana State miscues.
•The home game attracted a season-high 4,069 fans.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Drake junior forward Tucker DeVries enjoyed his seventh 20-plus scoring game (28th time in his career) with a game-high 29 points.
•DeVries tied a career-high with six three-point baskets while leading Drake with four assists.
•DeVries scored 12 points (4 treys) in 2:52 span of first half from 8:52 to 6:00 mark.
•This marked the sixth time DeVries made three or more three-point baskets in a game (32nd time in career).
•DeVries moved into No. 10 on Drake career scoring list with 1,425 points, surpassing Roman Penn (2019-23) who scored 1410.
•Junior guard Atin Wright added 17 points, including 13 in the second half.
•Freshman guard Kevin Overton scored 16 points, making three three-point baskets
•Senior Darnell Brodie collected 15 points, including 13 in the first half. 
•DeVries, Brodie and junior Nate Ferguson grabbed a team-high six rebounds apiece. 
 
THE SERIES
*Drake, winning its second straight game against the Sycamores, leads the overall series, 50-48 including a 33-13 mark in Des Moines.
•The Bulldogs have won 9 of their last 11 meetings against Indiana State.