DRAKE MEN’S BASKETBALL DRAKE BULLDOGS MEN’S BASKETBALL GAMES 26-27 | AT BRADLEY | FEB. 26-27, 2021 • The Drake University men’s basketball team plays SCHEDULE Feb. 26/27, 2021 • 6 p.m./7 p.m. its 13th game in 31 days when it visits Bradley for its Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena final series of the regular-season. November • The Bulldogs travel to Peoria with 23 wins, the 25 at Kansas State! W, 80-70 second most wins in the nation and fourth most in 27 vs. South Dakota! W, 69-53 COMPARISON program history. • The Bulldogs 14 MVC wins are tied for the second Drake Team Bradley most in Drake history and one win shy of equaling the December Des Moines, Iowa Location Peoria, Ill. school record. 3 OMAHA W, 87-66 Bulldogs Nickname Braves • Drake is 8-1 in road games this season and 17-18 Missouri Valley Conference Missouri Valley on the road the last three years. 6 ST. AMBROSE W, 97-53 23-2 Record 11-14 • The Bulldogs 23-2 record is the second-best in 9 MCKENDREE W, 90-66 14-2 Conference Record 5-11 program history behind the 2007-08 team’s 24-2 start 13 AIR FORCE W, 81-53 RV/RV Ranking --/-- to the season before dropping a third game. W4 Streak L3 • Of those 23 wins five have come against Quad 1 18 at South Dakota W, 75-57 Darian DeVries Head Coach Brian Wardle and 2 opponents in the NCAA NET Rankings with 20 CHICAGO ST. W, 111-67 67-26/3rd Record at School 92-100/6th Drake having won 83.3 percent of its games against 22 NORTH DAKOTA W, 88-55 Quad 1 and 2 foes. 67-26/3rd Career Record 187-165/11th 27 at Indiana State W, 81-63 78.7 Points/Game 69.9 • Drake’s last two wins moved Darian DeVries into 63.7 Opp. Points/Game 66.0 seventh all-time in career wins at Drake with 67 wins 28 at Indiana State W, 73-66 in just 93 total games with the Bulldogs. Last week, 15.0 Scoring Margin 3.9 he was named to the Naismith Coach of the Year 0.500 FG% 0.449 Award watchlist. January 0.413 Opp. FG% 0.409 • Sophomore Joseph Yesufu was named the MVC 3 SIU* W, 73-55 0.374 3FG% 0.320 Co-Player of the Week after scoring 20, 32 and 36 4 SIU* W, 86-55 0.306 Opp. 3FG% 0.371 points in consecutive games last week. He became 0.711 FT% 0.723 the first Bulldog to record back-to-back 30-point 10 LOYOLA* PPD 36.9 Rebounds/Game 37.4 games since Dec. 1988. The 36 points were the most 11 LOYOLA* PPD 30.6 Opp. Rebounds/Game 34.0 scored in the Valley this season. 17 at Missouri State* PPD 6.3 Rebounding Margin 3.4 • Drake has won by double-figures in 16 of its 23 wins 14.3 Assists/Game 13.9 and has outscored opponents by an average of 15.0 18 at Missouri State* PPD 10.8 Turnovers/Game 12.7 points per game, the 12th-highest average in the 21 at UNI* PPD 2.6 Turnover Margin -0.2 nation. 26 at Missouri State* W, 68-61 7.4 Steals/Game 5.4 • The Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better in 14 27 at Missouri State* W, 78-73 3.2 Blocks/Game 3.7 games this season. OT ON THE AIR LAST THREE GAMES - LEADERS 31 ILLINOIS ST.* W , 78-76 Television MVC TV / ESPN+ SCORING February Play-by-play Scott Warmann / Mitch Holthus 1 ILLINOIS ST.* W, 95-60 Analyst Rich Zvosec / Danan Hughes JOE YESUFU G • 6-0 • 180 • So. 6 at Valparaiso* W, 80-77 Radio ESPN 1350-AM / 102.1-FM 29.3 PPG 7 at Valparaiso* L, 74-57 Play-by-play Michael Admire 10 UNI* W, 80-59 Analyst Paul Doerrfeld Opponent FG-A 3FG-A FT-A Pts at UNI 8-16 4-8 2-2 20 13 LOYOLA* L, 81-54 Streaming Video FSGO.com / ESPN.com/watch Evansville 12-14 5-7 3-5 32 14 LOYOLA* WOT, 51-50 COMMUNICATIONS CONTACTS Evansville 11-18 5-8 2-2 36 17 at UNI* W, 77-69 Total 31-48 14-25 7-9 89/29.3 21 EVANSVILLE* W, 85-71 Drake Ty Patton Office 515-271-3014 REBOUNDING 22 EVANSVILLE* W, 74-63 Mobile 205-310-1271 26 at Bradley* 6 p.m. E-mail [email protected] GARRETT STURTZ 27 at Bradley* 6 p.m. Website www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com G • 6-3 • 175 • Jr. Twitter @DrakeBulldogsMB/@TyPatton_Drake 6.7 RPG March Bradley Jason Veniskey Opponent O-Reb. D-Reb. Total 4-7 MVC Tournament Office 309-677-3636 at UNI 1 3 4 Cell 585-615-5316 E-mail [email protected] Evansville 1 5 6 ! - Little Apple Classic Website www.bradleybraves.com Evansville 3 7 10 * MVC Contest Total 5 15 20/6.7 All times central 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 DEVRIES ENTERS THIRD SEASON Director of Athletics Brian Hardin AFTER HISTORIC FIRST TWO Faculty Athletics Rep. Megan Brown Darian DeVries, the 2018-19 Missouri Valley DeVries was one of the longest-tenured men’s Coaching Staff Conference Coach of the Year, enters his third basketball assistant coaches at one school in Head Coach Darian DeVries season as the head coach of the Drake men’s the nation and assisted the Bluejays in their fifth Alma Mater UNI, 1998 basketball program. NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven In his first two seasons, the Bulldogs have years before earning the Drake position. During Record at Drake 67-26 (3rd season) won 44 games to mark the fourth-most success- his time on the Creighton staff under both Dana Career Record 67-26 (3rd season) ful two-year period in program history. Altman and Greg McDermott, the program ac- Assistants Larry Blunt During his second season he guided the cumulated a record of 460-211 and 231-129 in Marty Richter Bulldogs to the program’s second-straight 20- conference games. win season which marked the first time since Under his guidance, Creighton had 15 first- Matt Gatens 1971 the program had won 20 or more games team all-conference selections, six conference Director of Operations Brady Ellingson in consecutive seasons and just the third time it Players of the Year, three Newcomers of the Graduate Manager Anthony Murphy had occurred in program history. Nearly a third of Year, three Freshmen of the Year and three the Bulldogs’ 20-win seasons have come under Defensive Players of the Year. CU has also had DeVries’ leadership. six All-American honorees in that time, including Team Information The 2019-20 season ended in the MVC Tour- Doug McDermott, the first player in 30 years to 2019-20 Record 20-14 nament semifinals for the second-straight sea- be named a First Team All-American by the AP in 2019-20 MVC Record/Finish 8-10/8th son as the Bulldogs clipped No. 1 seed UNI in three straight seasons. 2019-20 H/A/N Record 14-2 / 2-10 / 4-2 the quarterfinals to become the first No. 8 seed Before joining the staff at then Missouri Val- to upend a No. 1 seed in tournament history. ley Conference member Creighton in 1998, he Starters Returning/Lost 3/2 That team set a school record for blocks in already had an extensive background in the Val- Letterwinners Returning/Lost 7/4 a season with 132, surpassing the mark of 130 ley as a starter at UNI under coach Eldon Miller. Newcomers 5 set in his first season. Additionally, the 2019-20 DeVries ranks 31st all-time in career scoring at team’s 237 three-pointers were the eighth most UNI with 1,084 points and was twice an MVC in season. The team recorded 279 three-pointers Scholar-Athlete Team selection. The two-time Program History in his first season at the helm, the fourth-most in UNI captain led the Panthers in three-point All-Time Record 1,287-1,502 (.459) Drake history. shooting three years and converted on 44 per- MVC Record 605-875 (.403) The longtime assistant from Creighton took cent of his attempts as a senior with 3.1 assists MVC Tournament Record 20-41 (.333) the reins of the Bulldog program in March, 2018, per game. and inherited a roster with just one returning DeVries graduated from UNI in 1998 with MVC Titles 8 (4 Outright/4 Shared) starter and three returning contributors. He a B.A. in elementary education and a minor (1935, 39, 64, 69, 70, 71, 2008, 19) quickly assembled a talented roster and let that in physical education. He earned his master’s MVC Tournament Titles 1 squad to its first regular-season Missouri Valley degree in college counseling from Creighton in (2008) Conference title since 2008 and the program’s 2000. 12th all-time postseason appearance. DeVries was a standout athlete in high school NCAA Appearances 4 Under his guidance, the Bulldogs led the Val- at Aplington-Parkersburg (Iowa), and in the (1969, 1970, 1971, 2008) ley in scoring at 75.4 points per game to rack up spring of 2015 was inducted into the IHSAA Hall NCAA Record 5-4 (.555) 24 wins and record the program’s sixth 20-win of Fame for his playing prowess.