CHICAGO, Ill. – The Drake men's basketball team rang in the new year in the Windy City for a road conference contest against the UIC Flames from Credit Union 1 Arena on Wednesday afternoon. However, the start to 2025 wasn't one the Bulldogs hoped for as they fell to UIC, 74-70.
 
The Bulldogs were up to their usual tricks in the early goings of the contest and grabbed the lead, 6-2, hitting three of their first five shots and forcing UIC into three turnovers. Bennett Stirtz had his hand involved in all facets scoring a layup and assisting on a pair of Cam Manyawu scores in the paint.
 
The Flames had a response, however, and took their first lead of the game, 10-8, at the 12:48 mark with an 8-2 run. Drake continued to play through Stirtz as the two sides traded buckets and eventually came even following three-pointers from Daniel Abreu and Tyem Freeman at 19-19.
 
Drake and UIC kept the close contest going into halftime. Both squads shot 50 percent or better from the field and matched each other from beyond the arc shooting 33 percent, but it was the Bulldogs owning a slight advantage, 33-32, at the break. Stirtz continued to stuff the stat sheet for the Bulldogs ending the period with 14 points, six assists, and three rebounds.
 
The duo of Manyawu and Stirtz kept up their strong play into the second half as they scored Drake's opening eight points. At the 15:52 mark, the pair had combined for 30 of the Bulldogs 41 points.
 
The Bulldogs eventually built their lead to double digits, punctuated with a behind-the-back assist by Stirtz on a Tavion Banks layup, but once again the Flames fought back. UIC used a 14-2 run over a four-minute stretch to take its first lead of the period at 55-53 with 7:44 remaining.
 
Stirtz's hot hand put the Bulldogs back in front with 3:44 to go as the Liberty, Missouri native nailed a step-back three-pointer to make the score 61-60. The triple from Stirtz gave him 30 points in the contest and secured a new career high.
 
Once again, however, UIC delivered a counter punch. The first blow came on a three-point play from Javon Jackson followed up by a three-point jumper by Freeman to give the Flames a 69-65 lead with just over a minute to go. The Bulldogs couldn't complete the comeback in the end and fell by a score of 74-70.
 
"Obviously congratulations to UIC they did an excellent job", Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "I thought they were tougher than us today. I thought they wanted it more. For us, I didn't think we played very hard. I thought that we had two or three guys that came ready. I think that can happen sometimes where you kind of create this result in your mind of 'that's who you are' and you have to recreate who you are every single day. What that means is you can get to a point where you're like, okay, we're this and we're good and I think we probably drank too much of the poison."
 
The Bulldogs will return to the court on Sunday, Jan. 5 as they host Murray State from the Knapp Center.
 
Post-Game Notes
•Drake suffered its first loss of the season, slipping to 12-1 overall, including a 2-1 Missouri Valley Conference record.
•Drake had a four-game Missouri Valley Conference regular season victory string, dating back to last year, snapped.
•Drake was dealt its first loss in 11 games when leading at half this season.
•Drake shot 58.3 percent (14-24) from the floor in the first half, marking the sixth 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 and 53.6 percent against Belmont.
•Drake, which leads the MVC in rebounding margin (8.75), out-rebounded UIC, 28-19. UIC entered the game ranked second in the MVC in rebounding margin (8.08).
•Drake grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, marking the ninth game this season the Bulldogs had 10--plus offensive rebounds in a game.
•There were 11 lead changes and 10 ties in the game.
 
Individual Notes
•Junior guard Bennett Stirtz enjoyed his sixth 20-plus scoring game of the season (19th in career) with a career high 30 points, including 16 in the second half.
•Stirtz also collected a career-high 12 assists (previous best 11 vs. Vanderbilt) to earn his second double-double of the season.
•Sophomore forward Cam Manyawu also collected his second double-double of the season (ninth in career) with 13 points, while tying a season high with 12 rebounds.
•Stirtz made a season-high four three-point baskets, marking the third time this season he had made three-plus treys in a game.
•Stirtz is the second Drake player to score 30 points in a game this season, joining teammate Daniel Abreu who had 30 against York.
 
The Series
•Drake had a five-game winning streak against UIC snapped, but the Bulldogs still lead the series against the Flames at 10-3 including a 4-2 mark in games played in Chicago.