The Basics
The Drake men's basketball team will take to court from the Knapp Center on Wednesday for its penultimate home game of the season against Southern Illinois. The Bulldogs and the Salukis will tip-off at 6:30 p.m. with the game available to stream on ESPN+ and broadcast through Mediacom.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Drake, in the midst of a six-game losing streak, comes into the matchup with an overall record of 12-16 and are 6-11 in Missouri Valley Conference play. With the conference tournament right around the corner, the Bulldogs find themselves in ninth place in the current league standings.
Senior transfer guard
Jalen Quinn is bidding to become the sixth Drake player to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring dating back to the 1955-56 season. All-American Lewis Lloyd led the MVC in scoring in back-to-back seasons in 1980 (30.2 ppg) and 1981 (26.3) followed by Curt Smith in 1993 (21.1 ppg), Luke McDonald in 2002 (17.9 ppg), Josh Young in 2008 (15.9 ppg) and
Bennett Stirtz in 2025 (19.2 ppg).
Drake Leaders
Jalen Quinn l 19.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.1 apg
Jaehshon Thomas l 9.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.7 apg
Okku Federiko l 9.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, .527 FG%
Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis sit one spot ahead of the Bulldogs in the standings with a league record of 6-10 and are 12-15 overall. Southern is shooting 45.9% from the field, which is 145th in the nation. The Salukis do most of their work inside the arc, making only 4.8 three-pointers per game, which is bottom 10 in the country.
Head coach Scott Nagy is in his second season leading SIU and has gone 26-34 during his brief tenure in Carbondale. Nagy is in his 31st season overall as a head coach and boasts a career record of 603-366. He became the 13th active coach and the 70th all-time to reach 600 wins with a 65-50 victory over UNI on Jan. 28.
Wednesday will be the 110th all-time meeting between Drake and Southern Illinois with SIU leading the series, 61-48. Drake is on a current seven-game winning streak over the Salukis and has gone 9-1 in the last 10 meetings with the lone loss in that span coming on Jan. 4, 2023, from Carbondale. Drake won the first meeting of the season back on Jan. 14 from Carbondale with the Bulldogs erasing a 17-point deficit to win in overtime, 76-73. The Bulldogs boast a home record of 28-24 all-time against SIU.
Southern Illinois Leaders
Quel'ron House l 14.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.0 apg
Rolyns Aligbe l 10.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, .523 FG%
Drew Steffe l 9.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.7 apg
Up Next
Drake has the weekend off before returning to action with a road game against Valparaiso on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Tip-off against the Beacons is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
