THE BASICS
The Drake men's basketball team takes its 3-0 Missouri Valley Conference record to Nashville for a 2 p.m. tip-off at Belmont on Sunday.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Sunday's game will be televised live on ESPN2 (simulcasted on ESPN+) with Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Kevin Lehman (analyst). All Drake men's basketball games can be heard live on 1350/102.1 ESPN Des Moines and the Varsity Network App with Michael Admire (play-by-play) and Paul Doerrfeld (analyst).
SCOUTING BELMONT
Belmont enters Sunday with a 9-5 overall record and a 2-1 mark in league play. The Bruins are coming off their first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season, 73-63, at Southern Illinois on Jan. 2. Sophomore transfer forward from Vanderbilt, Malik Dia led all scorers with 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss. Belmont head coach Casey Alexander was ejected after back-to-back technical fouls with 1:15 left in the first half of Tuesday's game in Carbondale.
In 12 games played, sophomore Cade Tyson leads Belmont in scoring (17.4 points per game) followed by Dia averaging 17.1 points and a team-best 5.6 rebounds. Ja'Kobi Gillespie is back this season running point for Belmont pacing his squad with 57 assists and 36 steals.
The Bruins are 5-0 so far this season at the Curb Event Center and are riding a nine-game home winning streak that started just after Drake defeated Belmont in Nashville last season, 79-61 on Jan. 29.
Alexander is in his fifth season at the helm of his alma mater with a 107-35 record in charge of the Bruins after taking over for Rick Byrd after his retirement. A former Belmont assistant, Alexander has had head coaching stints at Stetson (2011-13) and crosstown rival Lipscomb (2013-19).
Belmont was predicted to finish fifth in the 2023-24 MVC men's basketball preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY VS. BELMONT
Series: Drake leads 2-1
Streak: Drake, W2
Last Meeting: Feb. 19, 2023 | Drake (home) won 70-56
First Meeting: Nov. 25, 2021 | Belmont (neutral) won 74-69
In Des Moines: Drake leads 1-0
In Nashville: Drake leads 1-0
Neutral: Belmont leads 1-0
THE VOLUNTEER STATE
Following last year's 79-61 win at Belmont, Drake improved its all-time record in the state of Tennessee to 6-4 including 1-3 in the city of Nashville after the Bulldogs were 0-3 at the Challenge in the Music City Nov. 28-30, 2014.
After defeating Lipscomb in the season opener, Drake is now 19-12 all-time against Tennessee schools.
CLOSING IN ON STURTZ
Tucker DeVries recently improved to 12th on Drake's all-time scoring list (1,383 career points) and is only 12 points away from passing former teammate Garrett Sturtz (current Drake graduate manager).
WIDE MARGINS
All three of Drake's MVC wins in 2023-24 have been by 17 points or more. Drake is 9-1 this season in games decided by 11 points or more. The loss on Dec. 22 at UAB was Drake's only game of the season so far decided by five points or less.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will welcome Indiana State to the Knapp Center on Wednesday, Jan. 10 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
