The Basics
The Drake men's basketball team rolls along with Missouri Valley Conference play for another pair of games. The Bulldogs conclude a road trip on Saturday, Jan. 17 against the UIC Flames and then welcome the league leaders, Murray State, to the Knapp Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Saturday's contest with UIC with be broadcast on ESPN+, while Wednesday's showdown will air on CBS Sports Network.

Bulldogs by the Numbers
With an overall record of 9-9 and a league record of 3-4, the Bulldogs have found themselves in their fair share of close contests this season. Eight of their 18 games have been decided by five points or less. Drake is 3-5 in those instances. In conference games, Drake has had four of its last six contests decided by three points or less with the Bulldogs going 3-1 in that span. Drake's three conference wins this season have been by a combined six points (66-65 over Evansville, 74-72 over Indiana State, and 76-73 over Southern Illinois).
 
Redshirt sophomore Eli Shetlar has had back-to-back stellar performances since moving into the starting lineup with Wilguens Jr. Exacte being sidelined with an injury. Against Belmont on Jan. 10, Shetlar had a career-best performance scoring 26 points and draining 8-of-12 from long range. Shetlar followed up that performance with his first-career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, which helped the Bulldogs take down Southern Illinois in overtime in their last time out.
 
Drake Leaders
Jalen Quinn l 16.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.5 apg
Jaehshon Thomas l 11.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, .426 3pt%
Okku Federiko l 11.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, .543 FG%

Scouting UIC
The Flames are currently riding a hot streak and have won three-straight league games after starting the conference season 0-4. UIC has taken down the likes of Southern Illinois, Illinois State, and UNI during its current winning streak with two of those victories coming on the road. The Flames are 4-3 in games played from the Windy City this year, where they will battle the Bulldogs on Saturday.

UIC is under the leadership of head coach Rob Ehsan who is in his second season at the helm. While at UIC he has amassed a record of 25-24. In six seasons as a head coach, Ehsan has a record of 101-81.

Saturday marks just the 18th all-time meeting between Drake and UIC. The series has been mainly dominated by the Bulldogs with the all-time record sitting at 14-3. The two sides split the season series a year ago with each team winning on their home floors. The Flames handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season last year after Drake started the year 12-0. Drake posts a record of 4-2 all-time in games from Chicago against the Flames.

UIC Leaders
Ahmad Henderson II l 12.6 ppg, 2.4 apg, 1.6 rpg
Andy Johnson l 12.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.3 apg
Mekhi Lowery l 8.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.2 stl
 
Scouting Murray State
Murray State has raced out to the best record in the league this season and currently posts an unblemished mark of 7-0 in league play. The Racers are 15-3 overall on the year and will host Indiana State on Saturday before making the trek to Des Moines. The Racers are the top scoring offense in the MVC averaging 87.94 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the country.

Ryan Miller, the head coach of the Racers, is in his first year at Murray and has fared well. This is also Millers first season as a Division I head coach after serving as a top assistant most recently under Craig McDermott at Creighton.

The Racers got the better of Drake in their meeting in the conference opener back on Dec. 18 from Murray, 81-72. All-time, however, Drake leads by a slim margin, 6-4, in the brief series between the two programs. The Bulldogs are 2-1 all-time against Murray in games played from Des Moines with the Racers capturing their first road victory over Drake last season.

Murray State Leaders
Javon Jackson l 17.1 ppg, 2.8 apg, .436 3pt%
Fred King l 12.7 ppg, 8.5 rpg, .638 FG%
Romon Domon l 12.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, .542 FG%
 
Up Next
Drake will split its next pair of games between the road and home as it travels to Indiana State on Saturday, Jan. 24 and returns home to host Evansville on Wednesday, Jan. 28.