DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team clawed all the way back from the biggest deficit it faced all season, then came up just short at the end.

Murray State scored the game's final seven points and beat the Bulldogs 66-59 at the Knapp Center on Sunday afternoon, handing Drake its second straight loss and ending its 28-game winning streak at home. The loss also snapped Drake's string of 18 straight Missouri Valley Conference wins at home.

The Bulldogs (12-2, 2-2 MVC) got a big lift in its comeback attempt from freshman Isaia Howard, who had scored only 12 points coming in but finished with 13 and came up with some crowd-pleasing plays.

Bennett Stirtz, coming off a 30-point outing in last Wednesday's loss at UIC, also scored 13 after being held to four in the first half and added five steals and four assists. Mitch Mascari scored 11 for the Bulldogs, including eight in the second half.

Drake played without starter Isaiah Jackson, sidelined by an injury, and that forced coach Ben McCollum to adjust his rotation. Howard ended up getting 23 minutes on the floor and he made them count, hitting 6-of-8 shots, grabbing six rebounds and making three steals.

It was a slog offensively for the Bulldogs for most of the game. Though they ended up outscoring the Racers 32-28 in the paint, they missed numerous close-in shots – some contested, some not – and couldn't loosen things up with their perimeter shooting. Drake shot 36 percent in the first half, 41 percent for the game and went 4-for-14 from 3-point range.

Murray State (8-7, 2-2) found ways to break down the Bulldogs' defense, shooting 55 percent, and also was effective from deep, going 7-for-15 on 3-pointers. The biggest of those shots from distance was Terence Harcum's trey from the right corner with 61 seconds left after Drake had tied the score 59 on Daniel Abreu's tough bucket inside.

Murray State broke from a 26-all tie at halftime to build a 46-34 lead midway through the second half. Drake had not been behind by more than seven points in any previous game. Mascari then buried a deep 3 to get the Bulldogs going.

Stirtz followed with a steal and lob to Kael Combs for a layup, then took it to the basket himself, cutting the lead to 46-41. After a Murray State basket, Howard scored the next six Drake points, dunking after stealing the ball, soaring for a two-handed slam after an offensive rebound and following up his own miss, finishing a 13-4 run that drew the Bulldogs to 50-47.

The Racers went up 56-50 when Harcum, who led them with 20 points,  beat the shot clock buzzer with a 3 from the left wing while fading to his left. But the Bulldogs came back again.

Mascari knocked down a trey before scoring inside with a nice pump fake and Stirtz cashed in two free throws, lifting Drake into a 57-56 lead with 2:09 left.  But Murray State came right back, 
JaCobi Wood converting a three-point play off a layup to regain the lead at 59-57. Abreu then scored to tie it and 22 seconds later, Harcum stuck in his dagger 3.

After Stirtz missed a 3-point shot from the top of the key, Murray State finished it with four free throws.

Both teams went at it defensively in the opening half. Drake held the Racers to one basket in the first 9 minutes and forced five turnovers, but struggled to score at its end. The Bulldogs pulled ahead 8-3 when Stirtz stole the ball and took it in for a layup, only to see Murray State answer with a 13-3 run to go up 16-11, its biggest lead of the opening half.

Howard drew a roar from the crowd when he heaved in a 3 from just inside the half-court line to beat the shot clock, part of a 6-1 burst that drew the Bulldogs even at 17. The two teams then traded scores for the tie at halftime, Drake's Cam Manywu getting the final basket on a putback with 29 seconds left.

Drake had not lost at home since a 65-62 overtime setback to Missouri State on Jan. 18, 2023. It's just the third time in the last 10 years that a McCollum-coached team lost back-to-back games. He coached at Northwest Missouri State for 15 years before moving to Drake this season.
 
"I thought we found some solutions where we played more of a guard lineup and that's, honestly, what we've probably been missing," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "We're still really struggling to make layups. We missed about 12, 15 point blank layups and we need to be able to finish consistently. We just need to be a little better, a little more fight defensively to be able to get big time stops, but it's hard when your offense just isn't clicking, and it hasn't been clicking in a couple of games right now."

The Bulldogs will face a major challenge in their effort to get back on track, playing at Bradley on Wednesday night. Tip-off time is 6 p.m. They'll be back at home next Saturday to play Evansville in a 5 p.m. game, looking to start another Knapp Center winning streak.
 
Post-Game Notes
—Drake, suffering its second straight loss, slipped to 12-2 overall including a 2-2 record in the Missouri Valley Conference.
—Drake had a 28-game home court winning streak (second longest active streak in NCAA) halted.
—Drake also had a string of 16 straight Missouri Valley Conference home game victories, dating back to Jan. 24, 2023, come to an end.
—This marked just the third time in the last 10 seasons as a coach that Ben McCollum has suffered back-to-back losses in games.
—Drake utilized just its second different starting lineup of the season as Tavion Banks replaced the injured Isaiah Jackson in the lineup. It marked Banks first start at Drake this season.
—Drake collected 11 steals, marking the sixth time the Bulldogs had 10-plus steals in a game this season.
—The Bulldogs shot 41.2 percent from the floor (21-51) — their second lowest shooting percentage of the season.
—Drake shot 36.4 percent (8-22) in the first half, ending a streak of six straight games in which the Bulldogs had shot 50 percent or better in the first period.  The Bulldogs shot 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, 53.6 percent vs. Green Bay, 53.6 percent against Belmont and 58.3 percent at UIC last Wednesday.
—Drake's 26 points in the first half were the second fewest by the Bulldogs this season, trailing only 25 against Stephen F. Austin.
—Murray State out-rebounded Drake, 29-21 with the 21 rebounds by the Bulldogs a season low. The Bulldogs entered the game leading the MVC in rebounding margin (plus 8.75).
—Drake also tied a season low with eight assists.
—There were three lead changes and six ties in the game.
—Drake faced its biggest deficit in eight home games this season when Murray State owned a 46-34 lead with 10:04 left.
 
Individual Notes
—Junior guard Bennett Stirtz shared team scoring honors with 13 points, including nine in the second half.
—Stirtz also had a career-high five steals along with five rebounds.
—Freshman Isaia Howard also had 13 points which was a career-high, surpassing his entire season total of 12 points entering the game.
—Howard also led Drake with six rebounds which was a career high as well.
—Graduate guard Mitch Mascari made three three-point baskets, marking the ninth game this season (33rd time in career) in which he has made three or more treys.
 
The Series
•Drake, which had a five-game winning streak snapped against the Racers, still owns a 5-3 lead in the series against Murray State including a 2-1 record in Des Moines.