DRAKE MEN’S BASKETBALL DRAKE BULLDOGS MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME 32 | VS. ILLINOIS STATE | MARCH 5, 2020 • The Drake University men’s basketball team beings SCHEDULE March 5, 2020 • 6 p.m. postseason play at the MVC Tournament as the No. 8 November St. Louis, Mo. • Enterprise Center seed facing off against No. 9 seed Illinois State. • Last season Drake defeated Illinois State in the 2 UPPER IA. (EX) W, 95-88 7 KENNESAW ST. W, 86-55 quarterfinals, 78-62. This season, the teams split COMPARISON the regular-season series with each team winning 11 at Cincinnati L, 81-59 at home. Drake is 3-8 all-time against the Redbirds 13 KANSAS CITY W, 76-58 Drake Team Illinois State at the Tournament, including a win in the 2008 title Des Moines, Iowa Location Normal, Ill. 17 SIMPSON W, 98-53 game. 21 LEHIGH W, 74-58 Bulldogs Nickname Redbirds • Drake is the No. 8 seed for the seventh time in pro- Missouri Valley Conference Missouri Valley 25 vs. Miami Univ.! L, 67-59 gram history. The Bulldogs are 1-6 as the No. 8 seed 26 vs. Northeastern! W, 59-56 18-13 Record 10-20 and 18-40 all-time in the MVC Tournament. 8-10 Conference Record 5-13 • The Bulldogs ended the regular-season with three- 27 vs. Murray State! W, 63-53 Ranking straight losses, including a 57-53 setback to Illinois L3 Streak W1 State. December Darian DeVries Head Coach Dan Muller • Drake travels to St. Louis with two All-MVC selec- 3 MILWAUKEE W, 56-53 42-23/2nd Record at School 149-116/8th tions in second teamer Liam Robbins and Roman 7 SEMO W, 78-73 42-23/2nd Career Record 149-116/8th Penn, a third-team honoree. 14 at No. 14/12 Dayton L, 78-47 69.1 Points/Game 66.2 • Penn was also named to the all-newcomer team 17 MOUNT MARTY W, 92-74 67.9 Opp. Points/Game 69.9 while Robbins’ was tabbed the league’s Most Im- 21 at Air Force W, 85-80 1.2 Scoring Margin -3.7 proved Player. 31 at Bradley* L, 80-72 0.456 FG% 0.425 • Robbins has scored in double figures in 19 of the 0.426 Opp. FG% 0.442 last 23 games with six double-doubles this season. 0.340 3FG% 0.354 • Robbins is the school record holder for blocks in a January 0.373 Opp. 3FG% 0.334 season and now has 90 blocks. He ranks seventh 4 INDIANA STATE* W, 80-76 0.710 FT% 0.705 nationally in blocks per game with 2.9 per game. 7 LOYOLA* W, 65-62 33.5 Rebounds/Game 33.7 • Roman Penn is third on the single-season assists 11 at Valparaiso* L, 66-61 list at Drake with 172. He has a 58-to-25 assist-to- 32.0 Opp. Rebounds/Game 35.0 16 ILLINOIS STATE* W, 84-74 turnover ratio in the last 13 games and ranks 33rd 1.5 Rebounding Margin -0.9 19 at SIU* L, 66-49 nationally in assists. 15.0 Assists/Game 12.1 • Drake’s 42 wins over the last two season are the 22 at Evansville* W, 73-50 13.0 Turnovers/Game 14.3 sixth-most in any two-year period in Drake history and 26 MO. STATE* W, 71-69 0.5 Turnover Margin -0.9 Darian DeVries’ 42 wins in his first two seasons are 29 at Indiana State* L, 58-56 5.6 Steals/Game 5.7 the most by a coach in Drake history. 3.7 Blocks/Game 2.5 February ON THE AIR LAST THREE GAMES - LEADERS 1 SIU* L, 79-72 SCORING 5 BRADLEY* W, 73-60 Television MVC TV (FS Midwest / NBCSN Chicago) 8 at UNI* L, 83-73 Play-by-play Mitch Holthus Analyst Kevin Lehman LIAM ROBBINS 12 at Missouri State* L, 97-62 F • 7-0 • 235 • So. 16 EVANSVILLE* W, 85-80 OT Radio ESPN 1350-AM 11.7 RPG 19 VALPARAISO* W , 77-75 Play-by-play Michael Admire 22 at Illinois State* L, 57-53 Analyst Paul Doerrfeld Opponent FG-A 3FG-A FT-A Pts 25 at Loyola* L, 64-60 at Ill. State 6-12 0-1 2-4 14 29 UNI* L, 70-43 Streaming Video FSGO | ESPN+ at Loyola 6-11 1-1 0-0 13 COMMUNICATIONS CONTACTS UNI 3-8 0-1 2-4 8 March Total 15-21 1-3 4-8 35/11.7 5 vs. Illinois State 6 p.m. Drake Ty Patton 6 vs. UNI Noon Office 515-271-3014 Mobile 205-310-1271 REBOUNDING 7 vs. TBA 2:30 p.m. E-mail [email protected] LIAM ROBBINS 8 vs. TBA 1 p.m. Website www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com Twitter @DrakeBulldogsMB/@TyPatton_Drake F • 7-0 • 235 • So. ! - Gulf Coast Showcase 9.7 RPG * MVC Contest Illinois State Bill Salyer Opponent O-Reb. D-Reb. Total All times central Office 309-438-3805 Mobile 260-705-3963 at Ill. State 1 8 9 E-mail [email protected] at Loyola 1 9 10 Webiste www.GoRedbirds.com UNI 2 8 10 Twitter @Bill_Salyer/@Redbird_MBB Total 4 25 29/9.7 WWW.GODRAKEBULLDOGS.COM 1 TWITTER @DUBULLDOGS | @DRAKEBULLDOGSMB DRAKE MEN’S BASKETBALL QUICK FACTS University Location Des Moines, Iowa Founded 1881 Enrollment 5,015 Nickname Bulldogs Colors Blue & White Arena (Capacity): Knapp Center (7,152) Conference Missouri Valley Conference President Marty Martin Director of Athletics Brian Hardin Faculty Athletics Rep. Megan Brown Coaching Staff Head Coach Darian DeVries MVC COACH OF THE YEAR Alma Mater UNI, 1998 Record at Drake 42-23 (2nd season) RETURNS FOR SECOND SEASON Career Record 42-23 (2nd season) Assistants Matt Woodley Darian DeVries, the 2018-19 Missouri Valley three straight seasons. Conference Coach of the Year, is in his second At Creighton, DeVries worked closely with the Larry Blunt season as the head coach of the Drake men’s Bluejay backcourt and did much of the scouting Marty Richter basketball program. of the opposition. DeVries also played a signifi- Director of Operations Matt Gatens The longtime assistant from Creighton took cant role in the recruitment of future standouts, the reins of the Bulldog program in March, 2018, including five-star center Justin Patton in 2015, Graduate Managers Brady Ellingson and inherited a roster with just one returning who redshirted before turning into the No. 16 starter and three returning contributors. He overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Chi- Team Information quickly assembled a talented roster and let that cago Bulls. 2018-19 Record 24-10 squad to its first regular-season Missouri Valley In 2011-12, the Bluejays tied a school record Conference title since 2008 and the program’s with 29 wins and followed that with 28 and 27 2018-19 MVC Record/Finish 12-6/T-1st 12th all-time postseason appearance. wins in the successive seasons as part of a span 2018-19 H/A/N Record 13-2/7-6/4-2 Under his guidance, the Bulldogs led the Val- of 18 20-win seasons in his 20 years in Omaha. Starters Returning/Lost 3/2 ley in scoring at 75.4 points per game to rack up Before joining the staff at then Missouri Val- Letterwinners Returning/Lost 7/3 24 wins and record the program’s sixth 20-win ley Conference member Creighton in 1998, he season and third-most wins in school history. already had an extensive background in the Val- Newcomers 8 DeVries’ first recruiting class at Drake included ley as a starter at UNI under coach Eldon Miller. a junior college All-American, graduate transfers DeVries ranks 31st all-time in career scoring at Program History with all-conference pedigrees, a 7-footer and in- UNI with 1,084 points and was twice an MVC All-Time Record 1,181-1,499 (.459) ternational talent. That roster eventually earned Scholar-Athlete Team selection. The two-time eight All-MVC honors, including MVC Defensive UNI captain led the Panthers in three-point MVC Record 588-874 (.403) Player of the Year Nick McGlynn. shooting three years and converted on 44 per- MVC Tournament Record 18-40 (.327) His first team began the season by winning cent of his attempts as a senior with 3.1 assists MVC Titles 8 (4 Outright/4 Shared) the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic to con- per game. (1935, 39, 64, 69, 70, 71, 2008, 19) clude the non-conference schedule with a 12-4 DeVries graduated from UNI in 1998 with record before amassing a 12-6 mark in confer- a B.A. in elementary education and a minor MVC Tournament Titles 1 ence action. in physical education. He earned his master’s (2008) Before taking over the Bulldogs’ program, degree in college counseling from Creighton in NCAA Appearances 4 DeVries was an assistant coach at Creighton 2000. (1969, 1970, 1971, 2008) University for 17 years and spent 20 total sea- DeVries was a standout athlete in high school sons on staff with the Bluejays. During that span, at Aplington-Parkersburg (Iowa), and in the NCAA Record 5-4 (.555) he helped guide the Bluejays to 19 postseason spring of 2015 was inducted into the IHSAA Hall NIT Appearances 3 appearances and 12 NCAA Tournament berths. of Fame for his playing prowess. The oldest of (1964, 1981, 1986) DeVries, 44, was one of the longest-tenured five siblings, DeVries’ family boasts a tremen- NIT Record 1-3 (.250) men’s basketball assistant coaches at one dous academic pedigree with all five competing school in the nation and assisted the Bluejays collegiately.