DES MOINES, Iowa – Atin Wright set the tone with a dazzling first half and Tucker DeVries took over from there as the Drake men's basketball team returned to Missouri Valley Conference play with an 88-71 victory over Illinois State at the Knapp Center on Tuesday night.
 
Coming off a 10-day holiday break, the Bulldogs (12-2, 3-0) showed few signs of rust in beating the Redbirds for the seventh straight time, They shot a season-high 58.2 percent from the field (32-of-55), won their 13^th consecutive home game and improved to 60-1 under coach Darian DeVries when scoring at least 80 points.
 
"I thought our practices last week carried over into today," head coach Darian DeVries said. "Sometimes when you don't play after you've been playing games and all of a sudden you have five days of practice, that can be hard. It's good to bounce back."
 
The Bulldogs also stand alone in first place in the MVC, a half-game ahead of Indiana State, which hosts Evansville on Wednesday night.
 
Wright scored all of his 21 points in a sharp-shooting first half and DeVries tossed in 16 of his 22 in the final 20 minutes to erase any doubt over the outcome. The Bulldogs built a 32-point lead midway through the second half and coasted from there.
 
Wright made 7-of-9 shots in the first half, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and sparked a 15-2 run that broke it open. DeVries knocked down 6 of his 9 shots in the second half to finish 8-for-14, including three 3-pointers. He also matched his season high with six assists, including a perfect lob to Nate Ferguson for a dunk, and grabbed four rebounds.
 
Conor Enright, back in the lineup after missing the previous game at UAB because of a shoulder issue, scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting and handed out a pair of assists. Colby Garland added nine points, while Darnell Brodie and Kevin Overton each scored seven.
 
Overton kick-started the Bulldogs with two early buckets – a running jump shot in the lane and a 3 from the left corner. Wright's pull-up 3 from the right wing made it 8-0 and the Bulldogs were off and running.
 
Illinois State did pull to 10-8 but never got the lead. The Redbirds missed their next six shots and Wright buried consecutive 3s to trigger a 12-0 run that DeVries finished with a trey, stretching the lead to 27-8.
 
"I thought we did a nice job taking care of the basketball and we were gritty on defense," Darian DeVries said. "That really set the tone for the whole game and that got us going in transition."
 
The Redbirds responded with three consecutive 3-pointers in an 11-0 run and eventually cut the lead to 30-23. But that was their last gasp and Wright made the next 3 ½ minutes his own, scoring 13 points in a 15-2 burst blew the lead up to 45-25.
 
The 6-foot-1 junior started his one-man show with a jumper, stole the ball and drove for a layup that turned into a three-point play, swished a 3 from the left wing on a pass from DeVries, sank two more free throws, stole the ball again and took it up for another layup and topped off his sensational half with a deep 3 from the right corner. Enright's driving basket put the Bulldogs up 47-28 at halftime.
 
The lead only grew from there. Drake made six of its first seven shots in the second half and Brodie rebounded the one miss and powered his way to a reverse layup for a 59-31 lead.
 
DeVries found Garland in the left corner for a 3 and then knocked two straight shots of his own from beyond the arc for a 68-36 lead. His sweet lob to Ferguson for the dunk made it 74-32 with 10 ½ minutes left.
 
Ferguson finished with five points and four rebounds and hustled throughout his time in the game including diving for a ball on the floor with the Bulldogs safely ahead.
 
Darius Burford led Illinois State (8-6, 2-1 with 14 points and Malachi Poindexter scored 11. Drake won the rebounding battle 28-22 and limited the Redbirds to five offensive rebounds after they pulled down 24 in a 96-70 loss at No. 6 Kentucky last week.
 
This is just the second 3-0 Valley start for the Bulldogs under coach DeVries. They'll try to keep it going at Belmont on Sunday in a 2 p.m. start before returning home to meet Indiana State on Wednesday night, Jan. 10.
 
TEAM NOTES
•Tuesday's win was also the ninth game this season that Drake has won decided by 10 points or more.
•Drake out-rebounded Illinois State, 32-24.
•Drake made exactly 12 free throws for the second-straight game.
•The Bulldogs never trailed in the game.
•Drake started the game on an 8-0 run, their best opening stretch in a game this season, besting a 7-0 start against Nevada (Dec. 9).
•The 17-point margin of victory marked the second-consecutive MVC game in which Drake won by that exact difference.
The Bulldogs led by as many as 32 points (10:31, second quarter) and rattled off a run of 17-0.
•Drake is now 60-1 in the Darian DeVries coaching era when scoring 80 points or more.
•The win gave Drake its second 3-0 start in league play under head coach Darian DeVries. The first occurred during the 2020-21 season.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Junior transfer guard Atin Wright enjoyed his sixth 20-plus scoring game of the season with 21 points, all of which came in the first half.
•Wright made at least three triples for the fourth time this season.
•Junior forward Tucker DeVries led all scorers with 22 points, his sixth 20+ point performance of the year.
•DeVries made three three-point baskets, marking the seventh time this season (31st in career) that he has made three or more treys in a game.
•DeVries matched his season-high of six assists.
•Graduate forward Darnell Brodie had five rebounds, marking the first time this season that he has not grabbed at least six rebounds.
•Redshirt sophomore guard Conor Enright re-entered the starting lineup after missing his first game of the season (shoulder issue) at UAB back on Dec. 22.
•Enright was Drake's third player in double figures with 10 points and logged his sixth game of the season with multiple three-pointers.
 
THE SERIES
•Illinois State leads the all-time series, 61-39.
•Drake has won seven straight games against Illinois State dating back to 2019, the longest win streak in the series.
•The Bulldogs are 26-20 in home games against the Redbirds.