NORMAL, Ill. –The Drake men's basketball team was back on the road for another pivotal Missouri Valley Conference tilt as it took on the Redbirds of Illinois State from CEFCU Arena on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs used their second consecutive game of scoring more than 80 points to race past the Redbirds, 84-77.
 
Through the first five minutes of play it was the Bulldogs against Chase Walker. Drake featured a balanced scoring attack with multiple players providing points and on the other end it was all Walker for the Redbirds who scored all eight of Illinois State's opening points.
 
The two offenses were connecting at a high clip as the period progressed with the Bulldogs shooting 75-percent from the field and the Redbirds shooting 86-percent by the time of the under-12 media timeout. Drake, however, used an 8-0 run to go up 16-13 courtesy of back-to-back and-one's from Isaia Howard and Bennett Stirtz as well as a three-ball by Mitch Mascari.
 
The three-pointers were raining down for the Bulldogs as they ended the first half going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc to distance themselves from the Redbirds, 40-32, at the break. Drake's defense also stepped-up holding Illinois State's offense to just 1-of-8 from the field over the final five minutes of the period.
 
Stirtz paced the Bulldogs in scoring in the first 20 minutes of action reaching double figures with 11. Mascari added eight points, and Kael Combs went a perfect 3-for-3 in field goal attempts for six points. Walker led all scorers at the half with 15.
 
Mascari carried his sharp shooting from the first half into the second hitting a pair of threes to give him four on the night with just over 13 minutes remaining. His second score from deep in the period came with the shot clock expiring and put the Bulldogs up, 50-40.
 
The Bulldogs then went to their inside game extending their lead to 15 at the 8-minute mark. A quick spurt, largely achieved by Combs scoring seven points, saw Drake take control of the contest.
 
Illinois State cut into the Drake lead and made it an eight-point ballgame with just over five minutes to off a 7-0 run, but the Bulldogs held their composure. Stirtz and Tavion Banks battled through the paint and converted and-one attempts on two consecutive possessions to put an end to the Redbirds momentum.
 
A steal and score from Cam Manyawu and back-to-back makes from beyond the arc by Mascari and Stirtz put the finishing touches on the game to secure their 11th straight win.
 
"Illinois State is a really good team," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "They're really well coached and play with great energy. We essentially outscored them is what we did tonight. We didn't play great defense, but a lot of that is their offense. Their offense is really good. They've got a lot of shooting. They've got Chase [Walker] and obviously he's a load down there. I was proud of our guys being able to come out of here with a win and fight through some things."
 
Stirtz stuffed the stat sheet ending the night with 25 points to lead the Bulldogs to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. Mascari ended his night with 18 points going 5-for-10 from distance and Combs set a new career-high with 13 points on an efficient 5-for-6 shooting performance.
 
The Bulldogs will back to in Des Moines for their next contest as they are slated to host the Bradley Braves on Sunday, Feb. 16. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN 2.
 
TEAM NOTES
—Drake captured its 11th straight victory, for the second-best start in school history with its 23-2 record only trailing a 24-1 start by the 2007-08 team.
—Drake's winning percentage (.920) is the best in the nation and Drake's 23 victories are the most by a NCAA Division I team this season.
—Drake's current 11-game winning streak is the nation's second longest active streak only trailing Akron which has won 12 straight.
—This marked the seventh time Drake has won 23 or more games in a season, including the last five straight seasons dating back to the 2020-21 campaign.
—Drake improved to 13-2 in the MVC, maintaining first place in the league.
—This marked the fifth straight season Drake has won 13-plus league games in the Missouri Valley Conference and eighth time in school history.
—Drake's 11-game winning streak marks the 14th time in Ben McCollum's coaching career that he has had a winning streak of 10 games or more: Drake-twice…NW Missouri State-12 times
—Drake is 8-1 on the road this season, including a 7-1 league road mark.
—McCollum improved his career coaching record to 417-93 with his winning percentage of .818 ranking fifth on the all-time career NCAA head coach winning percentage.
—Over the last 10 seasons, Ben McCollum has gone 74-5 in the month of February, winning his last 21 straight games in the month of February dating back to his coaching career at Northwest Missouri State.
—Drake's bench scored 27 points, marking the ninth time the Bulldogs reserves have scored 20-plus points in a game this season including the fourth straight MVC contest.
—The Bulldogs shot 60.4 percent (29-48) from the floor, marking the 13th time Drake has shot 50 percent or better this season, including the eighth time in their last nine MVC games.
—Drake improved to 20-1 when owning a halftime lead after owning a 40-32 intermission lead.
—Drake hit 64 percent (16-25) in the first half, marking the 15th game this season the Bulldogs shot 50 percent or better in the first half. 
—It marked the sixth time — first on the road — Drake has scored 40-plus points in the first half
—Drake held Illinois State to just one basket (eight shots) in the final 5:34 of the first half.
—Drake collected nine steals while scoring 21 points off Illinois State miscues.
—There were four ties and two lead changes in the game
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
—Junior guard Bennett Stirtz enjoyed his 13th 20-plus scoring game of the season, including the 25th time in his career, after scoring a team-high 25 points against Illinois State including 14 in the second half.
—Stirtz also had a game-high seven rebounds along with a game-high six assists.
—Stirtz has 155 assists this season —just one assist shy of moving into a tie for No. 5 on Drake's single-season assists list at 156 with Terry Benka (1976-77)
—Graduate Mitch Mascari added 18 points, including 10 in the second half.
— Mascari made five three-point baskets, moving into No. 14 on the single-season three-point basket made list at 76, passing Tucker DeVries who had 75 during the 2021-22 campaign.
—It marked the sixth time Mascari has made five or more three-point baskets in a game this season.
—Sophomore guard Kael Combs came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points, making five of six shots. 
—It was Combs' second double-figure scoring figure of the season and he surpassed his combined total of 10 points in his previous two games.
—Sophomore Cam Manyawu tied a career high with four steals—his third game this season with three or more steals.
—Graduate Daniel Abreu tied a career high with three steals.
 
THE SERIES
—Drake has won the last 10 games against the Redbirds including its last three trips to Normal, Ill.
—Illinois State owns a 61-42 lead in the series against Drake including a 36-11mark in Normal, Ill.