THE BASICS
Drake men's basketball travels to the Heart of Illinois for a mid-week matchup against Illinois State at CEFCU Arena at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17. The Bulldogs enter the week at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings with Indiana State with a 5-1 league mark.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Wednesday's game will be televised live on Marquee Sports Network and ESPN+ with Kurt Pegler (play-by-play), Kelly Burke (analyst) and Genna Rose (sideline reporter).
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
The Redbirds began Missouri Valley Conference play with a 2-0 league start but have lost five games in a row and now sit with a 2-4 MVC record.
Darius Burford leads Illinois State in scoring with 12.9 points. Myles Foster (10.5) and Dalton Banks (10.1) also average double figures scoring. Banks is also the main facilitator for the Redbirds leading the team with 64 total assists and 16 steals.
Valparaiso earned its first MVC win of the season and the Roger Powell era at Illinois State on Sunday. Not one Redbird scored in double-digits last Sunday as Burford and Foster led the way with nine points. Kendall Lewis scored eight points and ripped away eight rebounds.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a big lead right away against Illinois State on Jan. 2 and did not look back in an 88-71 victory. Tucker DeVries scored a game-high 22 points and distributed a game-high six assists in the win while Atin Wright (21) churned out another 20-plus scoring game while swiping two steals.
Ryan Pedon is in his second season mentoring the Redbirds. Pedon has spent stints as an assistant at Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Toledo and Illinois before joining Chris Holtmann's staff at Butler and Ohio State.
Illinois State was picked to finish eighth this season in the MVC preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ILLINOIS STATE
Series: Illinois State leads 61-39
Streak: Drake, W7
Last 10: Drake leads 9-1
Last Meeting: Jan. 2, 2024 | Drake (home) won 88-71
First Meeting: Jan. 2, 1974 | Drake won 99-90
In Des Moines: Drake leads 26-20
In Normal: Illinois State leads 35-9
A WIN WOULD...
- Improve Drake's road record to 3-2 this season
- Mark Drake's eighth consecutive win against Illinois State
- Be Drake's 10th win over Illinois State in 11 tries
BACK-TO-BACK
Drake won its 14th straight home game dating back to last season and improved to 61-1 under Darian DeVries when scoring at least 80 points after an 89-78 bounce back win over previous conference unbeaten Indiana State on Jan. 10. Tucker DeVries led all scorers with 29 points while the Bulldogs forced 15 turnovers while only turning over the ball three times. Drake tied a school record with zero turnovers in the first half against the Sycamores.
Tucker DeVries poured in 34 points (his third 30-plus scoring output of the season) en route to a commanding 76-58 win at Southern Illinois last Saturday night. The 58 points were the fewest Southern Illinois has scored in a home game this season.
Drake snapped Southern Illinois' six-game winning streak as well as a four-game home winning streak, while the Salukis suffered just their second home loss in 11 games this season.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tucker DeVries earned his second MVC Player of the Week Award this season and the Lou Henson National Player of the Week Award. In addition, he was named to the 2023-24 Lou Henson Mid-Season Watch List. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division-I men's college basketball.
IN THE POLLS
Drake checks in at No. 8 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 and at No. 3 in the Field of 68 Media Network Cinderella Top 25.
TUCKER TERRIFIC
Tucker DeVries ranks second in the MVC and is tied for 17th nationally in points per game (20.4).
DeVries has scored at least 30 points in three games already this season (36 vs. Lipscomb on Nov. 8, 33 vs. Akron on Nov. 21 and 34 at Southern Illinois on Jan. 13). As only a junior, DeVries has already registered five games of scoring 30 points or more, tallying 32 points in back-to-back games last season against Valparaiso and Murray State.
He improved to 10th on Drake's all-time scoring list, passing former teammates Garrett Sturtz (current Drake graduate manager) and Roman Penn while only 13 points away from passing Wayne Kreklow for ninth all-time. He is also approaching the Top-5 at Drake for most 3-point baskets made, with 203 treys, only 12 3-pointers away from passing Reed Timmer for sixth all-time.
BIG BRODIE
Darnell Brodie is playing in his sixth season of collegiate basketball. The Newark, N.J., native has grabbed at least six rebounds in 15 of his 16 games played in this season.
Brodie leads the MVC in rebounds per game (8.1) and field goal percentage (64.3 percent).
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will welcome Evansville to the Knapp Center on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. for its Alumni Day as part of Des Moines' Hometown Team Weekend.
