Drake Hosts Wichita State in MVC Battle Saturday

By Paul Kirk, Drake Athletics Communications Director

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Drake Bulldogs (12-9, 5-5 MVC) face a first-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference for the second time in four days on Saturday night when they host Wichita State (18-3, 9-1) at the Knapp Center. The Shockers are tied with Creighton atop the conference standings with a 9-1 record. Tipoff is set for 8:07 p.m. on Ron Pearson Court for a contest that will be televised by the MVC TV Network. Drake is seeking to snap a two-game losing streak as it faces its third consecutive game against the three top RPI-ranked teams in the Valley. The Bulldogs fell Sunday night at Northern Iowa (No. 51) and Wednesday night at home to Creighton (No. 11); Wichita State is No. 24. The defending NIT champions are 6-0 on the road this year and lead the MVC in scoring margin (+16.5) and field-goal percentage defense (.394).

RADIO/TV: All games can be heard on AM 1350 KRNT in Des Moines, with Larry Cotlar on play-by-play and Dolph Pulliam as analyst. The Wichita State game will be televised across the Missouri Valley Conference TV network, with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Kevin Lehman (analyst) calling the action. It will air on Fox Sports Midwest, as well as Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City, KSMO-TV in Kansas City, Comcast Sportsnet Chicago, ESPN3 (outside the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska), DirectTV (Channel 671), Dish Network (Channel 418) and AT&T U-Verse. The game will be joined in progress at 8:30 p.m. CT on Fox College Sports.

QUICK NOTES:
· Drake has not allowed any of its last five opponents to shoot higher than 50 percent from the field. Opponents in this stretch are shooting a combined 42 percent (113-270).
· The Bulldogs own the third-best shooting percentage from three-point range in MVC games, despite making just 4-of-18 in Wednesday’s loss to first-place Creighton. Drake entered the game shooting 39 percent from long range in Valley contests, but converted just 22 percent in the 8-point loss, its second-lowest percentage of the season.
· Drake committed a season-low six turnovers against Creighton on Wednesday, and its 16 turnovers in the past two games mark its lowest two-game total of the season.
· The Bulldogs rank third in the MVC in field-goal percentage (.462) and steals (7.0).
· The Missouri Valley Conference opened the week ranked No. 8 in the NCAA’s latest RPI rankings, with three teams in the top 51. The Bulldogs’ five MVC losses have come against No. 11 Creighton (twice), No. 51 Northern Iowa (twice), and No. 84 Missouri State. Drake (No. 107), owns a win over No. 58 Iowa State.
· Drake has won 13 of its last 15 home games. The Bulldogs began their current stretch of home success last season and rattled off 11 consecutive home wins over the final seven games of 2010-11 and the first four home dates of 2011-12.
· Kurt Alexander has scored in double figures in five of the last seven games, averaging 12.6 points per game off the bench in this stretch, and 14.0 in the last three home games. He has recorded a career high for points twice in the last six games, first with 17 points in a win over Bradley on Jan. 10, and again with 21 points at Northern Iowa on Jan. 22.
· Alexander ranks third in the MVC in free-throw percentage (.854; 41-48), and is second in conference-only games (.923; 24-26). He ranks eighth in MVC games in field-goal percentage (.530).
· The Bulldogs boast two of the top six scorers in the Valley, with Rayvonte Rice sitting third at 17.2 points per game and Ben Simons sixth at 15.6. No other school two players in the conference’s top 10.
· Simons leads the MVC in three-point field goals (52) and entered the week ranked 34th in the nation in three-point field-goal percentage (42.4, now 41.3) and 71st in three-pointers per game (2.5). He is tied for sixth among active MVC players in career three-pointers (131).
· Simons’ 18-of-19 free-throw shooting in the past six games has propelled him to second in the MVC free-throw shooting rankings, with a season percentage of .875 (42-48). He has made 16 consecutive free throws (last miss w/4:24 to play vs. Bradley, 1/10) and 22 of his last 23. Simons ranks second among active MVC players in career free-throw percentage (.875), of those with at least 10 career attempts.
· Simons, who ranks second in the MVC in minutes played (35.2), has played all 40 minutes twice this season, and played 42 minutes in Drake’s overtime win at Southern Illinois (1/18).
· Rayvonte Rice entered the week ranked No. 85 in the nation in scoring (16.9; now 17.2) and leads the Missouri Valley Conference in steals (2.3; #21 NCAA). He is averaging 2.9 steals per game in MVC-only games and tied his career high with five at Southern Illinois (1/18). He also had five at Creighton (1/3).
· Rice’s 17.2-point scoring average is on pace to be the best by a Bulldog in 10 seasons (Luke McDonald, 17.9, 2000-01). The next highest averages in recent history are 18.1 by Lynnrick Rogers in 1994-95 and 21.1 by Curt Smith in 1992-93.
· Rice is one of 10 Missouri Valley Conference players on the Watch List for the 2012 Larry Bird Player of the Year Trophy.
· Kraidon Woods ranks fourth in the MVC in blocked shots (1.1; 24) and third in conference-only games (1.3; 13). His 49 career blocks tied for eighth-most among active Valley players.
· Woods’ .639 career field-goal percentage ranks fourth among all active players in the Missouri Valley Conference (76-119).
· Jordan Clarke ranks ninth in the MVC in rebounding with a team-leading average of 6.9 per game.
· Clarke is shooting 55% over the last 13 games (34-62). He has started every game this season but averaged just 8.0 minutes per game in three games two weeks ago because of an ankle injury (vs. Bradley, 1/10) and illness (vs. Illinois State, 1/15), affecting his per-game scoring and rebounding figures.
· Junior 6-10 center Seth VanDeest (shoulder) and junior 6-9 forward Reece Uhlenhopp (foot) will be unable to play this season and will seek redshirt years, it was announced by head coach Mark Phelps on Jan. 10. VanDeest has not played this season, while Uhlenhopp played just one minute versus Indiana State on Dec. 28.

LAST OUTING: The Drake Bulldogs battled to the final minute Wednesday night with Creighton (No. 15 AP) before falling 77-69 in front of a season-best crowd of 6,110 at the Knapp Center. Rayvonte Rice led three Bulldogs in double figures with 23 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to record his second career double-double. Ben Simons added 18 points and Kurt Alexander continued to make an impact off the bench with 16 points. The Bulldogs, who trailed by as many as 15 points late in the first half, worked their way back to just a four-point deficit, at 63-59 with 5:16 to play. Drake continued to attack the basket and keep pressure on Creighton, but the Bluejays answered every Bulldog threat down the stretch to seal the victory. Creighton’s Doug McDermott led all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line, and added 9 rebounds. Drake shot 44.6 percent from the field while Creighton shot 50 percent. The Bluejays were 7-of-15 from three-point range (46.7%) while the Bulldogs converted just four of 18 from beyond the arc (22.2%). Creighton outrebounded Drake 37-25. The Bluejays led 37-26 at halftime; Drake outscored Creighton 43-40 in the second half.

ABOUT THE SHOCKERS: Wichita State shares the Missouri Valley Conference lead with Creighton at 9-1, and is 18-3 overall. The Shockers rank seventh in NCAA DI in scoring margin, topping their opponents by an average of 16.7 points per game, and also lead the MVC field-goal percentage defense (.394) and rebounds (38.3). Three players average more than 12 points per game: Sr. center Garrett Stutz (12.9) and Sr. guards Toure’ Murry (12.3) and Joe Ragland (12.1). Stutz is the leading rebounder at 7.7 per game. The Shockers, who won the NIT in 2010-11, are coached by Gregg Marshall, 100-58 in his five years at Wichita State.

BULLDOGS-SHOCKERS SERIES: Wichita State leads the all-time series 93-46, though the Bulldogs are even with the Shockers (33-33) in games played in Des Moines. Wichita State has won the last two meetings and four of the past five after Drake had won four in a row from 2007-09. The Bulldogs last defeated the Shockers Jan. 23, 2010 in Des Moines (78-64).

THE LAST TIME (1/15/11: Wichita State 68, at Drake 54): Wichita State shot 52 percent from the field, which proved to be too much for Drake to overcome as the Shockers prevailed 68-54 over the Bulldogs at the Knapp Center. The loss was Drake’s third in a row to fall to 7-11 on the year (2-5 MVC), while the Shockers improved to 16-3, 6-1. Rayvonte Rice (11 pts.) and Ben Simons (10) led Drake in scoring while David Smith added a career-high seven-point outing off the bench. Three Wichita State players finished with double-figure efforts, led by Aaron Ellis with 12 points, while Demetric Williams and David Kyles added 11 and 10 points, respectively. JT Durley pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for the Shockers. Wichita State limited Drake to a season-low 20 rebounds en route to registering a 45-20 rebounding edge. The rebounds resulted in only 7-6 advantage in second-chance points, but the Shockers’ cause was strengthened by its bench outscoring the Bulldogs, 37-17. Drake shot 40 percent from the floor.

PROTECT THE HOUSE: Drake has won 13 of its last 15 home games dating back to last season. The Bulldogs saw their 11 game home winning streak snapped Saturday, Jan. 7, versus Northern Iowa, their first loss of the season on Ron Pearson Court at the Knapp Center. The current season streak included victories over Iowa State and Indiana State after beating UNI and Creighton in last year’s streak.