DES MOINES, Iowa – Playing at home for the first time in almost two weeks, the Drake men's basketball team did just what was to be expected against its NAIA opponent.
The Bulldogs cruised to a dominating 90-35 victory over St. Ambrose at the Knapp Center on Thursday night to become just the second team in school history to start a season 9-0. It was Drake's 26
th straight victory at home, matching UConn for the longest active streak in Division I, and its 48
th consecutive nonconference win at home, the third-longest streak ever for a Missouri Valley Conference team.
The victory was accomplished with a formula that has been working well for first-year coach
Ben McCollum – sharing the ball on offense, accurate shooting and relentless pressure on defense.
Everyone who got into the game for the Bulldogs scored and no ironman performances were needed in this one.
Five players scored in double figures, led by
Tavion Banks with 15.
Nate Ferguson scored a season-high 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting and
Cam Manyawu also scored 14 to go with seven rebounds and two blocks.
Daniel Abreu went 3-for-5 from 3-point range in scoring 11 points and
Bennett Stirtz added 10 points, seven assists and four steals, which matched his career-high. Stirtz leads the nation in minutes at 38.3 a game but played only 21:42 Thursday night.
The scoring continued down the line with
Mitch Mascari getting nine on three 3-pointers,
Kael Combs getting eight off the bench on 4-for-5 shooting and
Isaia Howard contributing seven points, five rebounds and two steals in his most extensive action of the season.
The Bulldogs shot 63.2 percent from the field, collected 22 assists and outrebounded the Fighting Bees 42-19. They outscored St. Ambrose 54-10 in the paint and converted 20 turnovers into 29 points. Drake's 12 steals matched a season high.
Atem Agot led St. Ambrose (6-3) with nine points. The Fighting Bees shot just 23.5 percent and went 6-for-24 from deep.
Drake built a 51-19 halftime lead on runs of 15-2 and 14-0, holding St. Ambrose without a basket for 6:18 during one stretch. The 19 points were the fewest Drake has allowed in an opening half this season.
Five dunks highlighted the first half action, including three on lob passes – Manyawu from Stirtz, Banks from Stirtz and Ferguson from Jackson. All came in the game's first 8 minutes. Banks later dunked on a sweet touch pass from Mascari and Manyawu threw down a two-handed jam on a drive that produced a 47-16 lead with 1:36 left in the half.
A 6-0 run that included four points by Manyawu stretched the lead to 57-21 early in the second half and the Bulldogs had no trouble keeping St. Ambrose at bay the rest of the way.
Banks hit Ferguson for a dunk in transition to start a 7-0 burst that made it 72-26 and a Ferguson flurry keyed a 9-0 run that took the lead to 86-35. The fifth-year senior drove for a basket, got another bucket inside after Abreu knocked down a three ball and finished his burst with a nifty floater that completed his scoring for the night.
"I think during finals week these games are a big deal," McCollum said. "You play Valpo and then you've got K-State coming up… I think if you come out of finals and just jump right into K-State you don't have that good rhythm. I thought this was the perfect game for that. I thought [St. Ambrose] ran their stuff very well. They ended up getting some shots on us, which they just missed a few of them. Offensively, I thought we found a little rhythm. We just played in flow, didn't run a lot of sets and I thought our guys did a good job with that."
Bulldogs showed up on the court and in the stands as fans donated over 500 toys to Thursday's toy drive organized by the Foster SQUAD. Because of the fans' efforts, all foster children attending Saturday's holiday event will receive an age-appropriate gift. For more information, visit fostersquad.org.
The Bulldogs' next game will be against Kansas State at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs then return home to play Green Bay at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21.
Team Notes
•Drake's 9-0 start marks the second time a Bulldog team has won its first nine games to open the season after the 2020-21 Drake team opened the season with an 18-0 mark.
•Drake is just one of seven teams remaining in NCAA Division I that is still undefeated.
•Drake is now tied with UConn owning the second longest NCAA Division I active home winning streak at 26 games.
•This marked Drake's 48th consecutive nonconference home victory. That is the third longest such streak in Missouri Valley Conference history.
•
Ben McCollum earned his 403rd career collegiate victory, improving his collegiate career coaching record to 403-91 in 16 years.
Individual Notes
•Every Drake player that checked into the game scored. Five Bulldogs ended the night in double figures.
•
Tavion Banks set a new career-high scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. He led all scorers in tonight's contest.
•Freshman guard
Isaia Howard recorded a career-high 27 minutes of action and also recorded career-highs of seven points and five rebounds.
•In 20 minutes of action
Kael Combs scored a season-high eight points to go along with three boards and two assists.
•
Bennett Stirtz tallied 10 points on the night continuing his streak of double-digit scoring games. The junior has reached double figures in every game this season and has 60 career games of reaching at least 10 points.
The Series
•Drake, winning its fourth straight game against the Bees, improved its series record to 5-2 against St. Ambrose including 5-0 in games played in Des Moines.
