EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In the final road regular season game of the year, the Drake men's basketball team came away with another tally in the win column, albeit in dramatic fashion, as it defeated Evansville, 65-61, from the Ford Center on Wednesday night. With the win, the Bulldogs claimed their first outright Missouri Valley Conference regular season title since 2008.
 
Drake raced out to an early advantage behind a 9-2 run capped by a Bennett Stirtz pull-up three-ball from the wing. The Bulldogs forced four early turnovers from the Purple Aces, but an extended scoring drought, followed by three consecutive buckets by Evansville, brought the game back even with 11:48 remaining in the half.
 
The shooting struggles kept the Drake offense from flowing and allowed Evansville to take the lead from the Bulldogs. A step-back three-pointer from Tayshawn Comer, the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, put Evansville up by two, 16-14, just before the eight-minute mark.
 
Drake and Evansville traded the lead back-and-forth over the next four minutes of play with seven lead changes during that span. It was an Isaia Howard triple from the corner, however, that gave the Bulldogs the two-point advantage, 25-23.
 
Howard's triple started a burst to get the Drake offense going. The Bulldogs ended the first half making five of their final six shots, including a couple treys from Daniel Abreu, to push its lead out to double-digits, 38-27, at the break.
 
Abreu led all scorers through the first 20 minutes of action with 11 points connecting on three makes from beyond the arc. Stirtz was also in double figures at the break with 10 to go along with five assists and three rebounds. Comer paced the Aces with nine.
 
Evansville immediately got itself back in the game when play resumed. The Purple Aces cut Drake's lead down to one opening the second half on a 10-0 run.
 
At the midway point of the period, the Aces' hot shooting continued and the score was brought even at 46-all following a Tanner Cuff bank shot. On Evansville's next possession, it was Cuff again rising up and making a three-pointer to push Evansville ahead.
 
Drake dug deep and found an answer with Abreu and Howard on the offensive end to regain its lead. The duo each scored a pair of baskets connecting from close range and outside putting the Bulldogs back up by five with just over four minutes to go.
 
Evansville wouldn't go away quietly mainly feeding Cuff on the low block. Following a pair of free throws from the senior, it was a one-point game with 1:21 remaining.
 
Free throws in clutch time put Drake ahead by four with just 14 seconds left on the clock, but a Comer runner brought it back to a one-possession game, 63-61, and 3.8 seconds to go. On the following in-bound the Bulldogs went long to Stirtz who was fouled and sunk two at the charity stripe to seal the deal.
 
"It's a big deal to our guys to be able to [win a regular season title]," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "We just didn't supply our own energy tonight. Then you're just surviving. [Evansville] played about 10 different defenses, so you try and navigate that, but we were able to make some key buckets and were able to win."
 
Four Bulldogs finished the night scoring in double figures led by Abreu with 19. Banks (15), Stirtz (14), and Howard (11) were the other contributors. Abreu, Banks, and Stirtz all pulled down five boards to lead Drake and Stirtz recorded a game-high seven assists.
 
The Bulldogs will close out the regular season on Senior Day, Sunday, March 2 against Missouri State. The regular season finale is set for 2:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
TEAM NOTES
—Drake improved to 26-3 overall, marking the third straight year the Bulldogs have won 26 or more games in a season and sixth time in school history
—Drake's 26-3 record is the best mark in school history after 29 games.
—Drake's 26 victories are tied with Auburn and High Point for the most wins by an NCAA Division I school this season.
—Drake won its fifth outright Missouri Valley Conference championship and ninth overall title (including four co-championships)
—The last time Drake won an outright MVC regular season crown occurred during the 2007-08 season under then first-year coach Keno Davis when the Bulldogs posted a 15-3 league mark.
—The Bulldogs improved their Missouri Valley Conference record to 16-3, marking the second time in school history with 16 or more conference wins (2023-24 MVC record: 16-4).
—Drake is 10-1 on the road this season, including a 9-1 league road mark. riding an eight-game winning road streak which is the third longest active streak in the NCAA.
—Ben McCollum ranks second on the list of first-year coaching wins at Drake at 26, trailing only Keno Davis who went 28-5 in his first year at Drake in 2007-08.
—First-year Drake head coach Ben McCollum improved his career coaching record to 420-94 ranking No. 5 on the all-time collegiate coaches list in winning percentage (.817).
—McCollum improved his career coaching record to 10-0 in the Ford Center in Evansville as he won NCAA Division II national titles in the arena in 2019, 2021 and 2022, going 3-0 in each Elite Eight appearances as head coach at Northwest Missouri State.
—Over the last 10 seasons McCollum has gone 77-6 in the month of February, including a 7-1 mark at Drake.
—Drake improved to 23-1 when leading at halftime after owning a 38-27 intermission lead against Evansville
—Drake has owned 10 double-figure halftime leads this season.
—Drake collected 10 steals, marking the 14th game the Bulldogs had collected 10 or more steals in a game this season.  The Bulldogs lead the MVC in steals, averaging 8.9 thefts per game.
—Drake's bench outscored Evansville's reserves, 26-5.
—There were 13 lead changes and six ties in the game.
—Drake survived despite not making a basket in the last 4:34 of the game, missing its last five shots.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
—Graduate Daniel Abreu led Drake with 19 points, including 11 in the first half.
—Junior Tavion Banks came off the bench scoring 15 points, including nine in the second half.
—Junior guard Bennett Stirtz collected 14 points and a game-high seven assists.
—Freshman reserve Isaia Howard tallied 11 points, including six in the second half, to enjoy the second double-figure scoring game of his career. He had scored a combined seven points in his previous three games.
—It marked the 11th game this season Stirtz has collected seven or more assists.
—Stirtz shared team-high rebounding honors with Abreu and Banks.
—Stirtz moved from No. 14 to No. 12. on the Drake single-season scoring list with 545 points passing Terry McKissick (1974-75, 533 pts.) and Melvin Mathis (1983-84, 536 pts.)
—Stirtz also moved into No. 4 on the Drake single-season assists list at 175, passing Al Stewart who had 174 during the 2006-07 season.
—Stirtz is the only player in the NCAA this season who has collected more than 500 points (545), 170 assists (175) and 60 steals (65).
—Drake improved to 15-0 when Banks scores in double figures.
—Graduate Mitch Mascari and sophomore Cam Manyawu each collected three steals, It marked the fourth game that Manyawu and Mascari had collected three-plus steals in a game.
— Mascari had a streak of 20 straight games, making a three-point basket come to an end as he missed five shots beyond the three-point arc.
 
THE SERIES
—Drake won its 13th straight game against Evansville dating back to 2019, while improving its series record to 36-28 against the Purple Aces.
—The Bulldogs own a 12-17 record in games played in Evansville, having won in their last five trips dating back to 2020.