NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Drake men's basketball team was dealt its first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season by Belmont in an 87-65 decision at the Curb Event Center on Sunday afternoon.
"We didn't have our best stuff collectively as coaches and players today," head coach Darian DeVries said. "In this league when you don't have your best stuff, you get beat. It was disappointing. We need to be better."
The Bruins got off to a smoldering start thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by Malik Dia in the opening minute.
Belmont competed without its starting point Ja'Kobi Gillespie, who was out with a wrist injury.
Darnell Brodie had a couple of early baskets down low and a spin move led to a layup for a 15-15 tie after nine minutes of play. The home team responded with an 8-0 run before Drake began to chip away. Great ball movement led to an open step back win triple by
Atin Wright as the Bulldogs trailed 24-20 with 4:53 remaining in the first half. Dia answered with one of his five treys on the afternoon to wind up with 21 first half points.
Drake tried to build off the momentum created by a technical foul assessed to Belmont head coach Casey Alexander with only 1:34 left before halftime. The Bulldogs sent
Tucker DeVries to the line to convert both free throws before
Kevin Overton connected on a three to trim the deficit to 35-29, but Belmont once again responded with a 7-0 run heading into halftime with a 42-29 lead.
The Bruins picked up right where they left off in the second half with back-to-back trifectas.
"We were just stagnant in the first half," Darian DeVries said. "When we got good ball movement, we got some opportunities. We were better in the second half but couldn't get any stops and their lead continued to grow. We had no answer for Dia. He definitely got away from us and was terrific for them."
The exclamation point for Belmont occurred with 7:19 to go in the game when a Cade Tyson steal led to a transition dunk by Dia for a 30 point advantage (78-48). Dia paced all scorers with 32 points.
Drake will play host to MVC-leading Indiana State at the Knapp Center on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.
TEAM NOTES
•Drake fell to 12-3 overall, including a 3-1 second-place mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
•The Bulldogs are 1-2 in road games this season.
•Drake shot 50 percent (26-52), marking the seventh time this season the Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better including the second straight MVC game. Drake is 6-1 when shooting 50 percent or better in games this season.
•Drake collected a season-low 23 rebounds while matching a season low with 13 assists.
•Drake, which entered the game averaging a league-low 6.7 turnovers in Missouri Valley Conference games, committed a season-high 15 miscues.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Junior transfer guard
Atin Wright led Drake with 14 points, including 11 in the second half.
•Junior forward
Tucker DeVries added 13 points, including 11 in the first half.
•DeVries moved into No. 11 on the Drake career scoring list with 1,396 points, surpassing
Garrett Sturtz (2018-23, 1,394 points).
•For the second straight game DeVries matched his season high with six assists.
•Wright added a game-high three steals, marking the third time this season he has collected three or more steals in a game.
•Graduate forward
Darnell Brodie collected a game-high nine rebounds.
THE SERIES
•Drake had a two-game winning streak against Belmont snapped with the overall series evened at 2-2, including a 1-1 mark in Nashville.
