The Drake University men's basketball team takes to the road
for its second meeting of the season against Missouri State on Sunday afternoon
at 2 p.m. The game will broadcast live from JQH Arena via ESPN3 and on radio in
Des Moines on 1350-AM KRNT.
The Bulldogs (9-10, 3-5 MVC) travel to Springfield fresh off
of a 74-69 upset over No. 17/12 Creighton on Wednesday evening. The win was the
Bulldogs' third in its last four games to improve to 9-10 overall and 3-5 in
the MVC.
One of those MVC losses came in the first meeting with the
Bears' ( 5-15 , 3-5 MVC) this season, a 77-65, loss at the Knapp Center on Jan.
5 in which MSU's Anthony Downing scored 24 points.
“We didn't come out with the energy we needed to get the win,”
senior Jordan Clarke said of the first meeting this season. “We didn't rebound
and play defense like we were supposed to. If we can fix those things, I think
we can have success”
Downing leads the Bears with 14.2 points per game while the
team averages just 59.3 points per outing. However, the team's defense has held
opponents to 63.5 points per game with just one conference opponent, Creighton,
scoring 70 or more points against the Bears.
“They're a team that's way better than their record,” Drake
head coach Mark Phelps said. “Obviously we have a lot of respect for them
because we lost to them at home. They play really hard and have a player in Anthony
Downing who, if he gets hot, is capable of winning a game by himself.”
In its last outing, Drake's defense held Creighton 10 points
below its season average and limited the nation's top three-point shooting team
to just five makes on 23.8 percent shooting. Richard Carter led Drake in that
win with a career-high 20 points. The junior point guard is averaging 16.3
points per game and has shot 6-of-9 from the arc in the last three games.
“Like every game, you try to carry the things the things
that you can learn from each game,” Phelps said of the effect of the win over
Creighton. “The win helps justify that when we play the right way we can win
any game on our schedule. The losses are evidence that when we don't, we can
lose any game.”
Which team can impose its pace will be one of the key
factors in the game as the Bulldogs are averaging 71.5 possessions per game,
the fastest pace in the MVC. In conference games, the squad is playing at a
71.8 possession pace, easily the fastest in league games. However, MSU plays at
a 62 possessions per game pace, the 13th slowest pace in the nation.
Drake's reserves have also been a key component to the team's
last three wins as the bench has outscored its opponents' reserves in each of
the last four games by a 108-57 margin. Against Creighton, the bench stepped up
with 43 points as Jeremy Jeffers and Daddy Ugbede chipped in 11 and 12 points,
respectively.
Following Sunday's contest, the team will remain on the road
for its first meeting of the season against Southern Illinois on Jan. 30. The
squad returns to the Knapp Center on Feb. 2 to host Indiana State at 6:35 p.m.
