THE BASICS
Drake men's basketball looks to extend its home winning streak against Valparaiso on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. before traveling to Terre Haute, Ind., for a nationally televised clash with Indiana State on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. (CT).
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Wednesday's game against Valparaiso will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Larry Morgan (play-by-play) and Adam Emmenecker (analyst). Saturday's game at Indiana Statewill be broadcasted nationally on ESPN2 with Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Kevin Lehman (analyst).
Both games will air live on 102.1/1350 ESPN Des Moines with Michael Admire (play-by-play) and Paul Doerrfeld (analyst).
BLUE OUT
Wednesday night's game at the Knapp Center will be a Blue Out with fans encouraged to wear blue. Blue t-shirts will be given away to Drake students courtesy of Drake West Village.
LAST TIME OUT
Trailing 61-60 on Saturday against UNI, Drake closed out the game with a 17-2 scoring run with Tucker DeVries scoring seven points followed by six from Kyron Gibson.
The win over UNI 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.
Last Saturday (Jan. 27) marked the first sellout crowd (6,424) of the season at the Knapp Center.
BOUNCING BACK
Drake is 4-0 this season in games following a loss and 35-12 under head coach Darian DeVries in games after a loss including a 21-8 mark in games following a conference loss.
Drake is 19-3 in home games following a loss since the beginning of the 2018-19 season and have won 10 consecutive home games immediately following a loss.
SCOUTING VALPARAISO
Valparaiso is currently 6-15 overall and 2-8 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
The Beacons are coming off an 81-70 loss at home against Missouri State where Darius DeAveiro led the way with 20 points, seven assists and two steals while Jahari Williamson delivered 19 points with five rebounds. Valpo's last win occurred on Jan. 20, 84-77 over UIC after Roger Powell's first MVC win at Illinois State (59-50) on Jan. 14.
Drake beat Valpo in the MVC opener at the ARC on Nov. 29, when Darnell Brodie scored a season-high 21 points while hauling in nine rebounds. Kyron Gibson added 11 points and three assists off the bench in the 83-65 win versus the Beacons.
Cooper Schwieger averages 11.5 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds for Valpo to go along with 22 total blocked shots.
Former Valparaiso assistant Roger Powell Jr. is back at Valpo for his first season as a head coach. A former standout at Illinois, Powell began his coaching career as an assistant coach for Bryce Drew at Valpo (2011-16) and Vanderbilt (2016-19) before helping Gonzaga reach new heights from 2019-23. Powell helped Valparaiso win two Horizon League regular season titles in 2012 and 2013.
The Beacons were picked to finish 12th in the MVC preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY VS. VALPARAISO
Series: Drake leads 11-8
Streak: Drake, W5
Last 10: Drake, 8-2
Last Meeting: Nov. 29, 2023 | Drake won 83-65
First Meeting: Dec. 22, 1944 | Valpo won 62-42
In Des Moines: Drake leads 5-1
In Valparaiso: Tied 6-6
SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
Indiana State (18-3, 9-1) enters the week on a five-game winning streak, a streak that started after Drake defeated the Sycamores, 89-78 at the Knapp Center on Jan. 10. Tucker DeVries connected on a career-high six three-pointers to end up with a game-high 29 points and the Bulldogs only turned over the ball three times compared to 15 Sycamore turnovers in the victory.
Southern Indiana transfer Isaiah Swope is the leading scorer for the Sycamores (18.4 points per game) while swiping a team-best 32 steals so far this season. Sophomore center Robbie Avila is a dynamic player averaging 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Sophomore guard Ryan Conwell has stepped up for Indiana State averaging 15.7 points and 5.0 rebounds. Jayson Kent (13.6) and Julian Larry (10.5) round out the five Sycamores averaging double-digit scoring. Kent, the former Bradley Brave leads Indiana State in rebounding (7.8 per game).
The Sycamores have been running one of the most impressive offenses in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Indiana State leads the nation in effective field goal percentage (61.4 percent) and three-point field goal percentage (41.0 percent). The Sycamores are also top-five in scoring offense (fifth, 86.3 points per game) and field goal percentage (third, 51.6 percent).
Josh Schertz is in his third season in Terre Haute with a 52-36 record. The former Lincoln Memorial bench boss is approaching the 400 career win milestone with an overall head coaching mark of 389-105.
Indiana State was predicted to finish fourth in the MVC preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY VS. INDIANA STATE
Series: Drake leads 50-48
Streak: Drake, W2
Last 10: Drake, 8-2
Last Meeting: Jan. 10, 2024 | Drake won 89-78
First Meeting: Dec. 17, 1945 | Indiana State won 64-37
In Des Moines: Drake leads 33-13
In Terre Haute: Indiana State leads 33-16
TUCKER TERRIFIC
Tucker DeVries is the only player in NCAA Division-I men's basketball currently averaging at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals. He ranks second in the MVC and 23rd nationally in points per game (20.5).
BIG BRODIE
Darnell Brodie is playing in his sixth season of collegiate basketball. The Newark, N.J., native has grabbed at least five rebounds in all 20 games played in this season.
Brodie leads the MVC in rebounds per game (8.4) and field goal percentage (64.2 percent).
Brodie surpassed the 1,000 career points milestone having scored 1,008 points in his career, 998 of which occurred at Drake. With 813 career rebounds at Drake, he is only five boards away from passing Jonathon Cox (2005-09) for third all-time in Drake men's basketball history.
HOME SWEET HOME
Drake's current 16-game home winning streak is tied for the fifth-longest active streak in D-I men's basketball. Virginia owns the longest active home winning streak (21).
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will play host to Southern Illinois on Relays Night inside the Knapp Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.
