DES MOINES, Iowa – Illinois State's torrid second-half shooting and Chase Walker's strong inside presence proved too much for the Drake men's basketball team.
           
Walker powered his way to 17 points and the Redbirds shot 79 percent after halftime to beat the Bulldogs 73-56 at the Knapp Center on Monday night in a matchup of the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion against the team favored to win the title this season.
 
Drake kept it close through a first half that featured seven lead changes and four ties and trailed by just three points early in the second half. But the Redbirds, the preseason pick to win the Valley, broke it open with a 14-3 run and led by as many as 20 in ending Drake's 10-game winning streak in the series.
 
Okku Federiko led the Bulldogs (7-7, 1-2 MVC) with 11 points and came up with a career-high four steals. Jalen Quinn added 10 points for Drake, the defending MVC champion, and Andrew Alia scored nine on 3-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.
 
The Bulldogs played without Jaehshon Thomas, who was ill and did not suit up. Thomas is the Bulldogs' third-leading scorer and had averaged 17.5 points in the first two conference games.
 
Drake compiled a season-high 12 steals and had a 26-6 edge in points off turnovers, but that stat made little difference in this one. Illinois State committed a season-high 23 turnovers – the Redbirds had been averaging only 10 a game – but offset that with 13 3-pointers and 63.4 percent shooting for the game.
 
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, shot a season-low 33.9 percent and went just 7-for-26 on 3-pointers after making only one of 12 shots from deep in the opening half. The 56 points were the fewest Drake has scored in a game this season.
 
Drake started the game on a promising note, Owen Larson feeding Federiko for a layup less than 30 seconds in. The Bulldogs frustrated the Redbirds early with a switching, trapping defense and built a 14-10 lead when Braden Appelhans knocked down a three-ball from just left of the key with 11:18 left in the half.
 
The Drake lead was 16-14 after Wilguens Jr. Exacte drove for a layup, but it vanished when Logan Wolf, who played his first two seasons at Northern Iowa, buried back-to-back triples and TyReek Coleman followed with another trey for a 23-16 Illinois State lead. The Redbirds stayed ahead the rest of the way while the Bulldogs found good shots but just couldn't get them to drop.
 
Down just 31-27 at halftime, the Bulldogs pulled to 33-30 on Alia's long ball with 19:34 left, but they got no closer. Illinois State made nine of its first 10 shots in the second half, including four three-pointers, to open a 56-39 lead.
 
Drake cut into the deficit with back-to-back triples from Eli Shetlar and Alia, but Illinois State answered with six straight points to take the lead back to 17 and the Bulldogs never threatened again in suffering their worst loss in a Valley game since an 87-65 setback at Belmont on Jan. 7, 2024.
 
Walker, a 6-foot-9, 280-pound junior and the league's preseason player of the year, bullied the Bulldogs around the basket, making 6-of-7 shots and drawing six fouls. Wolf finished with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including four three-pointers in five attempts. He had been shooting 3-for-20 from deep coming in.
 
Illinois State beat Drake for the first time since a 57-53 victory in Normal on Feb. 22, 2020.  It was the Redbirds' first win in Des Moines since a 69-55 victory on Jan. 30, 2019.
 
"I thought maybe the first 10 to 12 minutes were maybe as good as we have played all year," Drake head coach Eric Henderson said. "Unfortunately, the game is a lot longer than that. That first part of the second half… [Illinois State] knows where their bread is buttered, and they threw it in to the preseason player of the year and really dictated the game from there."
 
Drake will remain at home for its next game, meeting Indiana State on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.
 
Team Notes
—Drake evened its overall record to 7-7 overall including a 1-2 record in the Missouri Valley Conference.
—Drake lost its third straight home game for the first time since falling to Fresno State, Jackson State and South Dakota State in the 2016-17 campaign.
—Drake suffered its worst Missouri Valley Conference loss since dropping an 87-65 verdict at Belmont Jan. 7, 2024.
—Drake collected a season-high 12 steals, marking the third game this season the Bulldogs have collected 10 or more steals.
—Drake scored a season-low 56 points, while shooting a season-low 33.9 percent from the floor (19-56)
—There were seven lead changes and four ties in the game.
—A three-point basket by Braden Appelhans gave Drake its biggest lead of the game at 14-10 with 11:19 left in the first half.
—Drake fell to 1-7 when trailing at half, unable to erase a 31-27 deficit.
 
Player Notes
—Okku Federiko led Drake with 11 points, while collecting a career-high four steals — all in the first half.
—Senior transfer guard Jalen Quinn added 10 points with nine coming in the first half.
—Redshirt junior guard Andrew Alia chipped in with nine points and a team-high four rebounds.
—Redshirt junior guard Braden Appelhans collected a career-high three steals.
—Senior guard Jaehshon Thomas, who averages 11.7 points, missed his first game of the season because of illness.
 
The Series
—Ilinois State, which snapped a 10-game losing streak to Drake, leads the series, 62-42.
—This marked the Redbirds' first win against Drake since claiming a 57-53 win against the Bulldogs, in Normal, Ill., Feb. 22, 2020.
—This was Illinois State's widest winning margin against Drake, since earning an 82-53 victory in Des Moines, Feb. 7, 2007.