DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team began the game with a sizzling 21-0 burst and earned a solid bounce-back victory, beating UIC 74-57 at the Knapp Center on a frigid Wednesday night outside.
 
Three days after a tough 61-59 home loss to Bradley, the Bulldogs dominated from the opening tip and maintained their lead in the Missouri Valley Conference race. Mitch Mascari buried a 3-pointer just 15 seconds into the game and Drake (24-3, 14-2 MVC) rolled from there in avenging a 74-70 loss to UIC in Chicago on New Year's Day.
 
Bennett Stirtz, held to eight points on Sunday, led the way with 25 points – the seventh time in the last eight games he has scored at least 20. He made his first seven shots and finished 9-for-13, including 3-of-4 from distance. Stirtz also handed out seven assists, grabbed six rebounds, made four steals, did not commit a turnover and for one of the few times this season, did not play the entire 40 minutes.
 
Cam Manyawu added 12 points and eight rebounds, while Tavion Banks had 10 points and six boards. Daniel Abreu and Isaiah Jackson each scored eight, with Abreu hitting a couple of 3-pointers.
 
The Bulldogs shot 60 percent in the first half despite missing their final five shots and wound up at 48 percent for the game. Drake controlled the rebounding, 33-23, and came up with 12 steals – the 13th time this season the Bulldogs have recorded at least 10. They lead the league in steals with an average of nine a game.
 
With the 24 victories, Ben McCollum tied Darian DeVries for the second-most wins by a Drake coach in his first season. The 24-3 record matches the best in school history after 27 games.
 
Tyem Freeman led UIC (15-12, 8-9) with 15 points. The Flames, scoreless for the game's first 5:36, eventually got their offense going, but by the time that happened, it was too late to make much of a dent in Drake's lead.
 
Drake hit nine of 11 shots and made four steals in its early run, which required just 5 minutes and 17 seconds. Stirtz and Abreu also hit 3-pointers; Stirtz had a dunk and a fadeaway from the baseline; Jackson scored twice on layups; Manyawu dropped in a layup and Banks slipped inside for an offensive rebound and putback.
 
The slickest play during the run – Drake's biggest of the season -- came when Stirtz fired a pass to Jackson on the right wing and Jackson immediately whipped the ball into Manyawu for a layup.
 
UIC, meanwhile, turned the ball over five times, missed two shots and twice called timeout to try to slow the Bulldogs. The Flames didn't score until Javon Jackson hit a runner at the 14:24 mark.
 
A Banks layup and a Stirtz trey stretched the lead to 31-11 and at that point, the Bulldogs were shooting 76.5 percent (13-of-17) and had outscored the Flames 15-0 off turnovers. A Jackson layup and two straight buckets by Stirtz, the second awarded on a goal-tending call, gave Drake its biggest lead of the game, 42-16, with 4:56 left in the half.
 
The Bulldogs led 45-28 at halftime – the seventh time this season they've scored at least 40 in the opening half – and after that, it was just a matter of keeping the Flames at bay.
 
UIC twice got to within 15, the second time at 50-35 with 14:45 to go.  But the Bulldogs responded with six straight points and never let UIC score more than four points in a row the rest of the game. Drake's last basket came when Stirtz hit a baseline jumper with 7:53 remaining, but the Bulldogs finished it off by making nine of 10 free throws.
 
With his 25 points, Stirtz moved from 28th to 21st on Drake's single season scoring list, running his total to 505. He needs five more to move into the top 20.

"I thought our energy was much better coming out," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "I thought we simplified some things. I thought our kids really owned some of the little mistakes that we've been making. We just have to create a level of efficiency, defensively, to make sure that we can be at our best. I thought we did for the most part in that first half and we just have to continue to keep getting better." 
 
The regular season is rapidly coming to an end, with just three games remaining. The Bulldogs play at Northern Iowa at 3 p.m. on Sunday, then have a 7 p.m. game at Evansville on Wednesday, Feb. 26. They finish the regular season at home against Missouri State on Sunday, March 2.
 
TEAM NOTES
—Drake improved to 24-3 overall, marking the fifth straight year the Bulldogs have won 24 or more games in a season and eighth time in school history
—Drake's 24-3 record is tied for best mark in school history after 27 games with the 2007-08 and 2020-21 teams which also started off with a 24-3 record.
—Ben McCollum has now tied Darian DeVries for second on the list of first year coaching wins at Drake at 24. DeVries posted 24 wins in his first year as Drake coach in 2018-19.
—The Bulldogs maintained first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 14-3 record, marking the sixth time in school history with 14 or more conference wins, including the third straight season
—Drake is 13-2 at home this season, including a 7-2 league home mark.
—First-year Drake head coach Ben McCollum improved his career coaching record to 418-94 ranking No. 5 on the all-time collegiate coaches list in winning percentage (.816)
—Drake improved to 21-1 when leading at halftime after owning a 45-28 intermission lead against UIC.
—Drake shot 60 percent (18-30) in the first half against UIC, marking the 18th game this season the Bulldogs shot 50 percent or better in the first half. 
—Drake has scored 40 or more points in the first half of seven games this season, including six at home.
—Drake has owned nine double-figure halftime leads this season.
—Drake outrebounded UIC, 33-23, to improve to 20-1 when outrebounding opponents.
—Drake grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, marking the 16th game the Bulldogs had collected 10-plus offensive rebounds in a game.
—Drake collected 13 steals, marking the 13th game this season the Bulldogs have collected 10 or more steals in a game
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
—Junior guard Bennett Stirtz scored a game-high 25 points, including 16 in the first half, along with a game-high seven assists.
—He also made a game-high three three-point baskets, marking the eighth time he has made three or more three-point baskets in a game this season.
—It marked the 14th 20-plus scoring game (27th in career) by Stirtz this season, including sixth in the last seven games.
—Stirtz became the 22nd player in Drake history to score 500 or more points in a season, pushing his season total to 505 points.
—Stirtz has become the ninth player in MVC history to achieve 500 points and 160 assists, dating back to Indiana State's Larry Bird accomplishing the feat in 1978-79 (973 points, 187 assists). Stirtz has 505 points and 166 assists-which ranks No. 6 on the Drake single-season list.
—Graduate Mitch Mascari made one three-point basket, moving into No. 10 on the single-season three-point basket made list at 81, surpassing B.J. Windhorst who had 80 during the 1994-95 campaign.
—Stirtz and Mascari each collected four steals. It marked the 12th time Stirtz has collected three or more steals in a game and the third time Mascari has recorded three or more steals in a game this season.
—Junior Tavion Banks came off the bench scoring 10 points. Drake is 13-0 when Banks scores in double figures
 
THE SERIES
—Drake, beating UIC for the sixth time in the last seven meetings, improved its lead in the overall series to 11-3.
—The Bulldogs own a 7-1 home record against UIC, winning the last seven games dating back to 1985.