MURRAY, Ky. – The Drake men's basketball team took to the road for its first Missouri Valley Conference matchup of the season on Thursday night against Murray State inside the CFSB Center and suffered a 81-72 loss.
 
The Bulldogs attacked the paint to get the game started which paid off with a couple of early buckets from the leading scorer in the MVC, Jalen Quinn, and Drake grabbed an 8-3 lead. Murray followed suit with Drake's inside attack, however, and drew even with the Bulldogs just before the 12-minute media timeout with the scoreboard reading 13-13.
 
The back-and -forth nature between the Bulldogs and Racers pressed on with neither side gaining separation from each other. A fastbreak layup from Okku Federiko kept Drake ahead by two with nine minutes remaining in the half, but an immediate three pointer by Mason Miller gave the Racers their first lead of the game, 20-19.
 
That led to an 11-2 run for Murray over a three-minute stretch and suddenly the Bulldogs faced an eight point deficit.
 
The final three minutes of the period went scoreless as both teams went cold from the field and by the time the halftime horn sounded, Drake was down 36-30.
 
Quinn led all scorers at the break with 12 points, while Federiko chipped in with nine. The Bulldogs struggled to find their touch from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes shooting just 20-percent (2-10) from three-point land.
 
Drake took a quick burst of five straight points from Murray State to start the second period as the deficit grew to double-digits.
 
Despite a strong stance from the Bulldog defense to hold the Racers without a field goal for four minutes, Drake's offense couldn't find its rhythm to cut into the deficit. A pair of dunks from Griffen Goodbary and Federiko tried to ignite a spark in Drake, but it still trailed by 10, 58-48, with eight minutes to go.
 
Needing to string together a series of scores and stops, the Bulldogs picked up the pace and looked to get downhill. Drake was able to get to the charity stripe and following four free throws by Quinn and Wilguens Jr. Exacte it pulled within six points as the clock neared four minutes remaining.
 
The stops, however, didn't happen and a three-ball by Lane Taylor from the top of the key put the Racers back ahead by nine, 69-60. A couple of possessions later Murray State's Fred King delivered the dagger with an and-one.
 
"Hard place to play and you have to give [Murray] credit," Drake head coach Eric Henderson said. "It was a physical basketball game. The thing I liked most about tonight was that we matched that physicality, which was great to see. I thought we battled on the glass and even though we had a few lapses, we showed aggressive and that's what I need to see."
 
Drake remains on the road for its next game when it takes on Evansville Sunday, Dec. 21 at 3 p.m.
 
Team Notes
—Drake, suffering its third straight loss, fell to 6-6 overall.
—The current three-game losing streak is the longest by a Drake team since the Bulldogs lost three straight games in the 2021 ESPN Event Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
—The Bulldogs also had a nine-game road winning streak - which was the second longest active streak by an NCAA team - come to an end.
—This was the fourth straight year Drake opened the Missouri Valley Conference playing a road game.
—This marked the first time the Bulldogs lost their Missouri Valley Conference opener since suffering a loss at Indiana State to open the 2022-23 league campaign.
—Drake shot 44.8 percent (26-58) from the floor, closing the game making five of its last seven shots including the last three.
—Drake outrebounded Murray State, 35-34, slipping to 5-2 this season when outrebounding opponents.
—Drake posted season lows in three-point baskets (three), three-point shooting (.188) and blocked shots (one).
—There were four lead changes and four ties in the game.
—Drake went on an 8-0 run to enjoy its biggest lead of the contest at 8-3.
 
Player Notes
 —Senior transfer guard Jaden Quinn led Drake with 19 points, including 12 in the first half. But he didn't play the last 5 minutes 22 seconds of the game. He added a team-high six assists.
—Quinn had a streak of 14 consecutive made free throws come to an end when he missed his first two free throw attempts of the game.
—Sophomore Okku Federiko added 17 points, including nine in the first half. He also grabbed five rebounds along with one blocked shot.
— Senior transfer Jaehshon Thomas came off the bench collecting 15 points with 14 coming in the second half.
—Sophomore transfer guard Owen Larson making his second straight start for Drake, led Drake with a season-high eight rebounds.
 
The Series
Drake leads the series, 6-4, including a 2-2 mark in games played in Murray, Ky.