Peoria, Ill. – With its 80-71 victory Friday night against Bradley, the Drake University men’s basketball team improved to 15-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play – equaling the most conference wins in program history. The Bulldogs’ 24-2 overall record matches their best start in school history and moves the Bulldogs one win away from clinching their second league title in the last three years and the No. 1 seed at next week’s MVC Tournament.
Darnell Brodie led all scorers with a career-high 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Brodie was instrumental in helping the Bulldogs dig themselves out of an early nine-point hole, scoring 14 of Drake’s 21 points during one first-half span.
Brodie recorded back-to-back buckets to jumpstart a 12-1 run that helped the Bulldogs take a 41-31 advantage at halftime. Joe Yesufu continued his hot streak with 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers to close the first half. Yesufu, the reigning MVC Player of the Week, finished 4-of-7 from 3-point range, marking the fourth-straight game he has connected on at least four triples.
DJ Wilkins opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and Tremell Murphy added two free throws as Drake continued to apply pressure, expanding its run to 17-1 as the Bulldogs took control for good. Wilkins ended with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3 and added five assists.
Wilkins and Yesufu were major reasons the Bulldogs shot 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from behind the arc.
Murphy posted 13 points and set a career-best with 12 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season. He matched his season-high with four assists. Bradley was led by Ja’Shon Henry’s 17 points in a relatively crisp game that only saw 15 total turnovers.
Garrett Sturtz also notched four assists, setting a new personal best for the junior in assists to go along with 11 points.
With two blocks and two steals, Brodie joined Sturtz as the only Bulldogs with multiple blocks and steals in the same game this season.
Drake caps its regular-season slate Saturday with a rematch against Bradley, and the Bulldogs will aim to clinch at least a share of the MVC title for the second time in three years. Drake would also lock up the No. 1 seed in the MVC Tournament with a win.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
