TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Drake University men’s basketball team took care of business and did not have a letdown in a fast paced 85-67 victory over Indiana State at the Hulman Center on Wednesday evening.
“I thought we did some really good things and we only had seven turnovers,” head coach Darian DeVries said. “We guarded much better in the second half. Indiana State is a hard team to prepare for. I liked our ball movement and I liked how we played on offense.”
Tremell Murphy connected on back-to-back triples to get the Drake (17-6, 8-2 in Missouri Valley Conference) offense started, leading 6-5 at the 17:34 mark of the first half.
Indiana State (9-12, 2-7) moved ahead halfway through the first half. Garrett Sturtz weaved his way into the lane to draw a foul while sinking a spinning shot as Drake trailed 26-25 after the free throw with 8:59 to play in the opening half.
Behind 28-25, the Bulldogs embarked on an 11-2 run capped off by a driving layup from ShanQuan Hemphill with 3:27 left for a 36-30 advantage. Roman Penn closed out the first half with a floater in the lane as Drake took a 42-37 lead into the halftime break.
“I told Roman before the game if he got six assists and two turnovers then we’ll win today,” DeVries said. “He had six assists and two turnovers.”
Drake began the second half on a quick 8-2 spurt for its largest lead up to that point (50-39) following a Penn trifecta with 16:47 remaining. Almost three minutes, the Sycamores cut the deficit to 54-51 before D.J. Wilkins took over to score eight straight points for the Bulldogs and push their lead to 62-53 with 12:12 to go.
The Sycamores attempted to keep the deficit within single digits, but gritty plays from Garrett Sturtz, who earned another hoop-and-the-harm extended the visitors lead to 77-65. Tucker Devries was also fouled in the act of shooting, this time on a wing 3-pointer with 4:13 to play in regulation. The rare 4-point play buried the Sycamores.
Up next, the Bulldogs welcome rival UNI to the Knapp Center for a 5 p.m. tip-off this Saturday (Feb. 5)
