The Basics
The Drake men's basketball team takes to the court for its next pair of games with the calendar now in its final full month of the season. The Bulldogs next face the preseason favorites, Illinois State, and Friday, Feb. 6 in a road match and then return home to host Valparaiso on Monday, Feb. 9.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs look to put an end to a two-game skid after suffering losses to Bradley and Belmont, which set them back to an overall record of 12-12 and 6-7 in conference play. Drake currently sits in seventh place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings and has gone 5-5 in its last 10 contests.
Jalen Quinn earned another MVC weekly award earlier this week and was named the Newcomer of the week for the second time this season. The senior currently leads the league in scoring at 19.5 points per game and over his last seven games has been averaging 27.1 points per game. He is also approaching two career milestones as he is 18 points away from 1,000 career points and two steals away from 100 career steals.
Drake shot 53.3 percent from the floor (32-60), including 50 percent (16-32) in the second half in its last game at Belmont. It marked the fourth time in the last five games the Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better in the second half after hitting 55.2 percent (16-29) in the second half against Murray State Jan. 21, 57.6 percent in the second half (15-26) at Indiana State Jan. 24 and 56.5 percent (13-23) against Evansville Jan. 28.
Drake Leaders
Jalen Quinn l 19.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.3 apg
Jaehshon Thomas l 10.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.8 apg
Okku Federiko l 10.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, .540 FG%
Scouting Illinois State
Illinois State carries an overall record of 15-8 into its matchup with the Bulldogs and Friday and has a league record of 7-5. The Redbirds have gone 3-2 in their last five outings with wins over Murray State, UNI, and Bradley who all sit inside the top six in the current MVC standings. Illinois State ranks in the top-100 in the NCAA in 10 different statistical categories including 25th in scoring defense, 50th in defensive rebounds per game, 66th in rebounding margin, and 62nd in scoring margin.
Ryan Pedon, the head coach of the Redbirds, is in his fourth season leading the program. He owns a career record of 63-60 during his tenure in Normal.
Friday marks the 105th all-time meeting between Drake and Illinois State with the Redbirds leading the series, 62-42. Illinois State got the better of Drake in the matchup from Des Moines earlier this season on Dec. 29, 73-56. That win snapped a 10-game winning streak Drake had over ISU. In games played from Normal, Drake is 11-35 all-time against Illinois State.
Illinois State Leaders
Chase Walker l 14.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, .507 FG%
Johnny Kinziger l 11.4 ppg, 3.0 apg, 2.8 rpg
Boden Skunberg l 10.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, .417 3pt%
Scouting Valparaiso
The Beacons are right behind the Bulldogs in terms of overall record (11-12) and conference record (5-7). Valpo is 3-2 in its last five games taking wins against Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and UNI. The Beacons almost tallied a fourth win over league leader Belmont, but lost by one, 78-77, on Jan. 28. Before making the trip to Des Moines, the Beacons will play host to Evansville on Friday night.
The head coach of Valpo is Roger Powell, who is in his third season at the helm. During his tenure the Beacons have amassed a record of 33-56.
Drake has the series lead over Valpo all-time, 14-8. The Bulldogs have won eight consecutive games over the Beacons and will put that to the test with the first meeting of the season between the two programs on Monday night. In games played from Des Moines, Drake is 7-1 all-time against the Beacons with the only loss occurring on Feb. 24, 2018.
Valparaiso Leaders
Owen Dease l 14.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, .416 3pt%
JT Pettigrew l 10.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.3 apg
Rakim Chaney l 10.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.9 apg
Up Next
Drake will welcome UIC to the Knapp Center on Thursday, Feb. 12 and then hit the road for the first round of the inner state rivalry with UNI on Sunday, Feb. 15.
