DES MOINES, Iowa — The Drake University men’s basketball team matched its season high with 15 3-pointers and wrapped up the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 82-53 victory over Mount Marty at the Knapp Center on Tuesday night (Dec. 28).
“I think confidence is a huge thing,” head coach Darian DeVries said. “Seeing the ball go through the net matters in basketball. Our team has a done a really good job of not playing the opponent, but being the best version of us that we can be.”
It was victory No. 80 for Darian DeVries, who reached that figure faster than any coach in program history, needing 113 games. Maury John had been the fastest, getting to 80 wins in 143 games. John is Drake’s career victory leader with a 211-131 record.
Drake heads into two straight months of Missouri Valley Conference play with 10-4 record that includes a league victory over Valparaiso back on Dec. 2. It was the 12th straight victory at home for the Bulldogs, who have won 30 of their last 31 at the Knapp Center.
Mount Marty, an NAIA school from Yankton, S.D., got 16 points from Gio Diaz. Tyrell Harper grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots for the Lancers, who counted the game as an exhibition.
Drake jumped on the Lancers early, bolting to a 12-0 lead and holding Mount Marty without a basket for the game’s first 7:47. An 11-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from DeVries and another by Murphy made it 31-8 and the Bulldogs led 41-13 at halftime, hitting that figure when DeVries took a step to his right and buried a 3 from the top of the key at the buzzer.
It was Drake’s largest halftime margin to date and the fewest points an opponent has scored in the opening half this season. The Bulldogs held Mount Marty to five field goals in the half and the Lancers went 0-for-11 from behind the arc.
Mount Marty rebounded with a 40-point second half on 48 percent shooting, but the Bulldogs never were in danger. They enjoyed their biggest lead at 66-29 on a Sturtz putback with 10:32 left. The comfortable margin allowed DeVries to shuffle players in and out throughout the final 20 minutes.
Drake finished 15-for-30 from 3-point range and shot 49.1 percent overall (27-for-55).
DeVries used 10 players and all 10 scored, led by senior D.J. Wilkins with 16 points, one short of his season high. Wilkins made a season-best four 3-pointers in six attempts and finished 6-for-9 overall in his 110th consecutive start.
Freshman Tucker DeVries scored 11 points with three 3-pointers, while senior Tremell Murphy and junior Darnell Brodie added 10 each. Senior Jonah Jackson and sophomore Okay Djamgouz each scored nine and senior Garrett Sturtz had eight.
Murphy grabbed seven rebounds, while Brodie, Sturtz and sophomore Nate Ferguson each collected six. Brodie, who had been coming off the bench, got the start in place of ShanQuan Hemphill, who was held out as a precaution because of a minor foot injury.
This is the fourth straight season Drake has recorded at least nine non-conference victories, something that has happened just one other time in school history. The first such stretch occurred from 1946-50.
Drake jumps back into Missouri Valley Conference play with two road games — at Missouri State at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 2, and at Southern Illinois on Wednesday, Jan. 5, also at 7 p.m.
