The Basics
Drake men's basketball travels to the Sunshine State as it prepares to partake in the Emerald Coast Classic from Niceville, Florida, Nov. 28-29. The Bulldogs will play two games in two days at the Emerald Coast Classic and take on the LSU Tigers in the opener on Friday, Nov. 28. Drake will matchup with either Georgia Tech of DePaul in the second game depending on results from Friday.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
In its last time out, Drake routed Division III Buena Vista from the Knapp Center, 98-52. Seven players scored in double figures for Drake, marking the third time this season in which five or more players have tallied double figure point totals. Drake scored 57 points in the second half against the Beavers, which marked the ninth-highest scoring half in program history.
With the Bulldogs opening against SEC member LSU, Drake will be facing an SEC school for the second consecutive year in a non-conference tournament. Drake owns a cumulative 24-49 record against SEC schools having won its last three games against Missouri in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament last year (67-57), Vanderbilt (81-70) at last year's Charleston Classic, and Mississippi State (58-52) in Lincoln, Neb., Dec. 20, 2022. The Bulldogs have played every SEC school except for Florida and Kentucky.
The Bulldogs have won five of their last eight games against Power Conference teams. The Bulldogs went 4-1 against teams from the Power Conferences last season with wins over Miami (FL) - ACC, Vanderbilt - SEC, Kansas State - Big 12, and Missouri - SEC. The lone loss came against the No. 3 seed Texas Tech - Big 12 in the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament.
Drake Leaders
Jalen Quinn l 14.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.7 apg
Okku Federiko l 13.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, .609 FG%
Wilguens Jr. Exacte l 10.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.5 apg
Scouting LSU
The Tigers come into the mixed team event with an unblemished record of 5-0 on the season. LSU is a previous participant and champion of the Emerald Coast Classic having won the title back in 2021 with victories over Penn State and Wake Forest. The Tigers bring a high potent offensive attack into the matchup with the Bulldogs averaging 98.6 points per game, which ranks third in the country. LSU has scored 90-plus points in all five games this season and the last time the Tigers achieved that was the 1990-91 season when Shaquille O'Neal was a sophomore and LSU scored 90-plus in the first nine games.
The Tigers are led by head coach Matt McMahon, who is in his fourth season down in Baton Rouge. McMahon holds a record of 50-53 during his tenure at LSU. He is a familiar face to the Bulldogs as he spent seven years (2015-22) at Murray State. Overall McMahon has a record of 204-120.
Friday marks the second all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Tigers. The previous contest between Drake and LSU occurred back on Jan. 2, 1993. LSU won the game 94-86 from Baton Rouge.
LSU Leaders
Michael Nwoko l 19.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, .760 FG%
Marquel Sutton l 14.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg, .471 FG%
Dedan Thomas Jr. l 14.2 ppg, 7.8 apg, 3.2 apg
Scouting DePaul
The Blue Demons carry an overall record of 4-2 into the Emerald Coast Classic are coming off back-to-back games with 93-plus points for the first time since 2021. DePaul was picked ninth in the preseason BIG EAST poll, its highest since the Blue Demons were picked eighth in 2015-16.
Chris Holtmann is the head coach of the Blue Demons and is in his second season leading the program. While at DePaul Holtmann has amassed a record of 18-22. He has 15 seasons under his belt as a head coach with prior stops at Butler, Gardner-Webb, and Ohio State for an overall record of 269-193.
Drake and DePaul have meet previously nine times with the Blue Demons leading the series, 7-2. The last time the two teams met was in 2016 from Chicago with DePaul winning, 77-75.
DePaul Leaders
CJ Gunn l 15.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.2 apg
Layden Blocker l 12.0 ppg, 4.2 apg, 2.3 rpg
NJ Benson l 11.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.7 blk
Scouting Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets are 5-1 to begin their season with their lone loss coming against in-state rival Georgia. Georgia Tech has gone undefeated in home games and has only played one contest away from Atlanta where they lost to Georgia. As a team, the Yellow Jackets are averaging 72.8 points per game and limiting opponents to 63.5 points per game.
Damon Stoudamire, a former standout and Pac-10 Player of the Year at Arizona, leads the Yellow Jacket program. He has served as the head coach for the past three seasons and has gone 36-36 in that span. Overall, he has a record of 100-113 with a prior five-year stint at Pacific.
Drake and Georgia Tech have never played each other making the potential matchup the first-ever.
Georgia Tech Leaders
Kowacie Reeves Jr. l 13.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.8 apg
Baye Ndongo l 12.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 3.2 apg
Mouhamed Sylla l 12.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 1.8 blk
Up Next
Drake heads back to the Knapp Center and will host Western Illinois on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with the game available to stream on ESPN+.
