Box Score DES MOINES, Iowa – The largest Knapp Center crowd of the season greeted the Drake men's basketball team on its return to Missouri Valley Conference play and the Bulldogs gave the fans what they wanted – another victory.
 
Drake got 20 points from Bennett Stirtz and played lockdown defense in beating Belmont 65-46 on Sunday afternoon to remain unbeaten.
 
The crowd of 5,231 saw the Bulldogs (12-0, 2-0 MVC) hold the normally high-scoring Bruins to a season low in points and field goals (15) while winning for the 28th straight time at home. That includes 16 straight MVC wins in the Knapp Center's friendly confines. Belmont (9-4, 1-1) came in averaging 84.1 points a game, second in the conference, and had not scored fewer than 63.
 
Drake came up with a season high 13 steals and forced 16 turnovers all while holding Belmont to just 40 shots and 37.5 percent shooting. The Bulldogs shot 47 percent in running an efficient offense and out-rebounded the Bruins 30-24.
 
Daniel Abreu added 15 points for Drake, Mitch Mascari scored nine on three 3-pointers and Nate Ferguson gave the Bulldogs some solid minutes off the bench with eight points and four rebounds. Isaiah Jackson led the team with eight rebounds while adding four points, two assists and three steals, which tied a career high. Stirtz added four assists, three steals and three rebounds to his line.
 
Drake took control of the game with first half runs of 13-0 and 11-0, led 39-21 at halftime and never let Belmont get closer than 14 points in the second half.
 
Stirtz got his game going from the get-go, driving for a basket, stealing the ball and slamming home a two-handed dunk and scoring on another layup as Drake took a 10-8 lead.
 
Belmont's Brody Peebles answered with a 3-pointer and a layup to pull the Bruins into a 13-10 lead, but they went nearly 8 minutes before scoring again and Drake pulled away.
 
Stirtz converted an old-fashioned three-point play off a drive, Abreu hit a turnaround in the lane and Mascari buried a deep 3 for a 18-13 lead and the Bulldogs were just getting warmed up. Ferguson followed with a three-point play and Stirtz hit a leaner to complete a 13-0 run that made it 23-13.
 
After Jonathan Pierre ended Belmont's drought with a layup, the Bulldogs rattled off 11 points in a row, starting with a Banks layup and a Mascari trey. Abreu followed with two free throws, Stirtz scooped in a layup after splitting the defense and Jackson cashed in a pair of throws to complete the burst, stretching the lead to 34-15.
 
Belmont inched to within 15 before Abreu knocked down a 3 for the 39-21 halftime lead. The 21 points were the fewest for the Bruins in a half this season.  Drake shot 53.6 percent (15-for-28) in the opening half; the fifth straight game the Bulldogs have shot at least 50 percent in the first half.
 
Belmont hit three shots from deep in the first 9 minutes of the second half to draw to 50-36. Drake responded with an 8-2 run that started with a Stirtz pull-up to beat the clock and finished with Ferguson dropping in a layup off a nice bounce pass from Abreu, making it 58-38 with 8:32 left.
 
The Bruins managed one more minor threat, scoring six straight points to draw to 58-44 with 5:32 to play. Stirtz again provided the answer for Drake, drawing a foul as he scored on an off-balance drive and sinking the free throw. When Abreu followed with a jumper, the lead was 63-44 and the Bulldogs coasted home from there.
 
Drake held Belmont without a field for the final 6:16 of the game, the Bruins managing only three free throws during that stretch.
 
"Our preparation played a big part because of how well coached Belmont is, how talented they are offensively in particular, and how they have been good for so many years," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "We were really tuned in to that scout making sure that we executed what we needed to execute because they are so explosive offensively, so well coached, and our kids executed it."
 
The Bulldogs hit the road for their next game, a New Year's Day contest with UIC at 2 p.m. They'll be back at home on Sunday, Jan. 5 to play Murray State in a 2 p.m. game.
 
Team Notes
•Drake's 12-0 start marks the second time a Bulldog team has won its first 12 games to open the season after the 2020-21 Drake team opened the season with an 18-0 mark.
 •Drake is just one of four teams (Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee) remaining in NCAA Division I that are still undefeated.
•Drake owns the second longest NCAA Division I active home winning streak at 28 games.
•Drake won its 16th straight Missouri Valley Conference home game dating back to Jan. 24, 2023.
 •Drake earned its fourth straight Missouri Valley Conference regular season victory dating back to last year.
•This marks the second straight season Drake has won its first two league games to open the Missouri Valley Conference season.
•Ben McCollum earned his 406th career collegiate victory, improving his collegiate career coaching record to 405-91 in 16 years.
•Drake improved to 10-0 this season when leading at half with the 39 first-half points marking the third highest accumulated by the Bulldogs in the first period this season, trailing only 50 scored in the first half of its season opener against York and 40 against Green Bay.
•Drake held Belmont to season lows in: points, game-46: points, first half-21; field goals made-15; field goal attempts-40; three-point baskets-three.
•Drake fired Belmont into a season-high 16 turnovers. Entering the game the Bulldogs had forced opponents into an average of 17.2 turnovers in Drake's previous six home games.
•Drake used scoring runs of 13-0 and 11-0 in the first half to enjoy a 39-21 halftime advantage.
•Drake shot 53.6 percent (15-28) from the floor in the first half, marking the fifth straight game the Bulldogs shot 50 percent or better in the first half after hitting 61.9 percent at Valparaiso, 67.7 percent in the first half against St. Ambrose, 57.1 percent in the first half against Kansas State and 53.6 percent vs. Green Bay.
•Drake collected a season-high 13 steals, while scoring 19 points off 16 Belmont turnovers. It marked the fifth game Drake has collected 10 or more steals this season.
•Drake, which leads the MVC in rebounding margin (plus 9.0), out-rebounded Belmont, 30-24.
•There were two lead changes and four ties in the game.
 
Individual Notes
•Junior guard Bennett Stirtz enjoyed his fifth 20-plus scoring game of the season (18th in career) with a game-high 20 points, including 13 in the first half. He also had three steals.
•Graduate forward Daniel Abreu added 15 points, including three three-point baskets. It marked the fourth time Abreu has made three or more treys in a game this season.
•Graduate forward Mitch Mascari collected nine points - on three three-point baskets - while tying a career high with three steals. It marked the eighth game this season Mascari has made three or more treys.
•Graduate guard Isaiah Jackson led Drake with eight rebounds, while tying a career with three steals.
•Senior center Nate Ferguson added eight points after going scoreless in his previous two outings.
 
The Series
•Drake improved its series record to 4-2 against Belmont including a 3-0 mark in Des Moines.