THE BASICS
Drake men's basketball sits alone in second place in the Missouri Valley Conference as the Bulldogs visit Evansville on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. inside the Ford Center.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Tuesday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Tom Ackerman (play-by-play) and Dan Muller (analyst). 102.1/1350 ESPN Des Moines is the radio home of Drake men's basketball with Michael Admire (play-by-play) and Paul Doerrfeld (analyst).
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE
Evansville lost at the buzzer to Murray State, 73-70 last Saturday when JaCobi Wood drilled a late trifecta before the final horn. Fifth-year guard Kenny Strawbridge Jr. put together a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Tanner Cuff added 15 points off the bench.
The Purple Aces enter the week 15-10 overall and 6-8 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Senior wing Ben Humrichous has missed eight games this season due to a foot injury, but has returned to action for Evansville currently averaging a team-best 14.9 points over 17 games. Senior forward Yacine Toumi is the other Purple Ace to average double figures scoring (11.5) while leading the team in rebounds per game (6.5).
11 of the 12 available players scored for Drake in a 97-48 win over Evansville on Jan. 20 during Des Moines' Hometown Team Weekend. Darnell Brodie led the way with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while Kyron Gibson drained five triples off the bench in an 18-point performance.m
The Bulldogs defeated the Purple Aces 97-61 last season on Jan. 21, 2023 inside the Ford Center.
Evansville is 10-2 at home this season with its only home setbacks coming against Murray State and Missouri State.
Veteran assistant coach David Ragland is in his second season leading the Purple Aces with a record of 20-37.
Evansville was predicted to finish 11th in the MVC preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY VS. EVANSVILLE
Series: Drake leads 32-28
Streak: Drake, W9
Last 10: Drake, 9-1
Last Meeting: Jan. 20, 2024 | Drake won 97-48
First Meeting: Feb. 20, 1995 | UE won 86-72
In Des Moines: Drake leads 20-10
In Evansville: UE leads 17-10
Neutral: Drake leads 2-1
A WIN WOULD...
- Mark Drake's third straight win
- Mark back-to-back road wins
- Improve Drake to 5-4 on the road this season
- Be Drake's 10th consecutive win over Evansville
- Be Drake's fourth consecutive victory in Evansville
- Improve Darian DeVries' record as a head coach against Evansville to 10-1
- Improve Drake to 12-3 in MVC play this season
BRING IN THE CLOSER
Darnell Brodie scored Drake's final 13 points and outscored Bradley 13-11 in the final 7:19 of the game in a 74-67 win at Bradley on Saturday. Brodie entered the week ranking second in the nation in field goal percentage (66.1 percent) and was named MVC Player of the Week on Monday, Feb. 12.
20-PLUS
Drake secured its sixth consecutive season of 20 or more wins. Six of Drake's 11 all-time 20-plus win seasons have come under the direction of head coach Darian DeVries.
CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME CHARTS
As of Feb. 12, Darnell Brodie is three rebounds away from passing Melvin Mathis (1982-86, 854) for second all-time in career rebounds at Drake. Former teammate and current graduate manager Garrett Sturtz (2018-23) is Drake's all-time leading rebounder (917).
Tucker DeVries has scored 1,633 career points to shift into fifth all-time at Drake, surpassing All-American Willie McCarter (1966-69) who scored 1,626 points and has his number retired at the Knapp Center.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will return home to host Murray State on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. in their Suit Up Against Pediatric Cancer Game.
