DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team overcame a double-figure deficit for the second time at home this season and pulled away in the final 5 minutes to beat Northern Iowa 77-63 in an intense affair at the Knapp Center on Saturday.

"We knew it would be a battle," head coach Darian DeVries said. "We fought extremely hard in an extremely competitive game." It's a rivalry game and a league game with a lot on the line. I thought both teams played their tails off to try to come away with a win."

A sellout crowd of 6,424 saw the Bulldogs rally from 10 down in the second half, then close the game with a 17-2 run to beat UNI for the seventh time in the last eight meetings. Drake (17-4, 8-2 Missouri Valley Conference) improved to 11-0 in the Knapp Center's friendly confines this season and won for the 16^th straight time on their own floor dating back to last season.

"Our fans brought it tonight," Darian DeVries said. "It was packed in here and it was awesome. I'm so thankful for all the people that not only came but maybe brought friends to come in. This place is a special place when it's like this. The Knapp Center has a different feel to it than a lot of other buildings because it's very tight and intimate. The noise level has an impact on the game."

The Bulldogs are alone in second in the league standings, a game behind Indiana State, after snapping UNI's five-game winning streak.

Tucker DeVries scored seven points in the closing run and finished with 29 to go with seven rebounds and a team-best six assists. Conor Enright, playing all but 2 minutes, knocked down four 3-pointers to match his career high and ended up with 14 points and four steals, which also tied a career-best.

Darnell Brodie contributed 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Nate Ferguson had seven points and six rebounds and Atin Wright also scored seven, all in the second half. Kyron Gibson hit two critical 3-pointers to help break it open and Kevin Overton pulled down seven points while scoring three points.
Both teams played without a key player. Drake's Colby Garland, an excellent defender and an important cog in the guard rotation, sat out with a knee issue. UNI played without No. 2 scorer Bowen Born, who was ill.

Trey Campbell led UNI (12-9, 6-4) with 18 points and Landon Wolf scored 11. The Bulldogs did a good job defensively on the Panthers' leading scorer, Nate Heise, holding him to 2-for-9 shooting in handing UNI just its second loss in the last 11 games.

Drake's other big comeback at home came against Saint Louis on Dec. 6, when the Bulldogs rallied from 19 down to win 75-69.
This one looked to be getting away, too.

Northern Iowa ran off 15 straight points spanning halftime to open a 46-36 lead less than 3 minutes into the second half, forcing a Bulldog timeout. Drake countered with an 8-0 run to get back in it and finally pulled ahead when Wright converted a three-point play off a drive for a 56-54 lead.

The Panthers regained the lead twice after that, the final time at 61-60 when RJ Taylor drove for a hoop. But after running efficient offense up to that point, UNI missed six of its last seven shots and the Bulldogs took advantage.

Gibson grabbed an offensive rebound, got the ball to DeVries then spotted up behind the arc and buried the shot to put Drake ahead to stay, 63-61. Brodie followed with a basket inside in heavy traffic and DeVries spun toward the basket and dropped in a finger roll to make it 67-61 with 3:34 left.

Another Gibson 3, this one on feed from DeVries, made it 67-61, and after Tytan Anderson drove for UNI's final basket, the Bulldogs finished it off. DeVries knocked down a final trey, Brodie sank two free throws and DeVries made a final pair.

"Nate Ferguson came in and really changed the game defensively with some of the ball screen coverage," Darian DeVries said. "Kyron Gibson hit two big threes to give us a little more cushion. It was critical for him to have the confidence and knock those down."

DeVries scored 19 points in the first half, including 15 during a 19-5 run that pushed Drake into a 30-21 lead. But the Panthers clawed back and scored the final seven points of the half to go up 38-36.

UNI then hit its first three shots in opening the second half with an 8-0 run to build its 10-point lead that did not last.

DeVries finished with five three-pointers to move past Reed Timmer for No. 6 on the school's career list with 215. He also closed in on No. 8 Lynnrick Rogers on the career scoring list, running his total to 1,542. Rogers scored 1,546 points.

Drake went 11-for-27 from beyond the arc, improving to 9-0 when it makes at least 10 3s. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Panthers 38-31, improving to 10-1 when winning that battle. Both teams shot 42 percent overall, but UNI went just 5-for-18 from deep, including 2-for-11 in the second half.

Next up for Drake is a home game with Valparaiso on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs won the first meeting 83-65 in Valpo back on Nov. 29.

Team Notes
•Drake improved to 17-4, including an 8-2 record in the Missouri Valley Conference maintaining second place in the league.
•Drake extended its home winning streak to 16 games, including an 11-0 mark in the Knapp Center this season.
•This marked the second home game in which Drake rallied from a double-digit deficit (46-36) to win this season. Earlier, Drake rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Saint Louis on Dec. 6.
•Trailing 61-60, Drake closed out the game with a 17-2 scoring run with Tucker DeVries scoring seven points followed by six from reserve Kyron Gibson.
•This marked the first sellout crowd (6,424) of the season at the Knapp Center.
•Drake improved to 3-2 this season when trailing at halftime after erasing a 38-36 halftime deficit.
•Drake made 11 three-point baskets, pushing its record to 9-0 this season when making 10 or three-point baskets in a game.
•Drake moved to 10-1 when outrebounding opponents this season after winning the battle of the boards, 38-31.
 
Individual Player Notes
•Junior wing Tucker DeVries enjoyed his 10th 20-plus scoring game of the season (31st in his career), scoring a game-high 29 points, including 19 in the first half.
•DeVries had five three-point baskets, marking the 11th time he has made three or more treys in a game this season along with the 37th time in his career.
•DeVries moved into No. 6 on the Drake career three-point basket list at 215, passing Reed Timmer (2014-18) who had 214.
•With UNI enjoying a 16-11 lead, DeVries keyed a 19-5 run with 15 points, including nine straight points during a 69-second span midway through the first half (10:16-9:07).
•DeVries also had seven rebounds, while tying a season-high with six assists.
Sophomore guard Conor Enright added 14 points, while tying two career highs: three-point baskets-4 and steals-4. 
•Senior forward Darnell Brodie collected 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds along with four assists.
•Forward Nate Ferguson tallied seven points, while collecting a season-high six rebounds.
 
The Series
•Drake has won seven of the last eight meetings against UNI, including three straight games.
•The Panthers lead the overall series, 51-34.
•The Bulldogs improved their home record against UNI to 22-19.