Drake Basketball saw a competition-heavy week the week of Feb. 24. Four games concluded the women’s at-home season play and marked the end of the men’s regular season play. The Bulldogs managed to go 4-0 overall for the week, with notable wins of 107-86 for the women’s team against Indiana State and 68-60 against the Missouri State Bears.
The men’s team played the Evansville Aces at Evansville on Feb. 26 in what would be a fight until the last minute. The Bulldogs outshot the Aces 38-27 in the first half, with Daniel Abreu putting up 19 points for the game in an attempt to pull the team away.
In the second half, though, the Aces outscored the Bulldogs 34-27, resulting in a close end score of 65-61 Drake when the clock hit zero. Drake managed to pull away in the last few seconds thanks to strong shooting from Bennett Stirtz and key players like Tavion Banks playing smart in the paint.
This game’s win marked one of the first 26-win regular season records by the Bulldogs since 2008, with the only other season coming in 2024 under former head coach Darian DeVries. The win also clinched the solo Missouri Valley Conference regular season title instead of it possibly being shared had the Bulldogs lost.
“It’s a big deal to our guys to be able to [win a regular season title],” head coach Ben McCollum said. “We just didn’t supply our own energy tonight. Then you’re just surviving. [Evansville] played about 10 different defenses, so you try to navigate that, but we were able to make some key buckets and were able to win.”
On Feb. 27, the Drake women’s team had its last home game of the season against the Indiana State Sycamores in what would be one of the Bulldogs’ biggest games of the season. The Bulldogs outshot the Sycamores 59-49 in the first half alone, with the smallest quarter for the team being the fourth with 19 points compared to the first quarter’s 33. The Bulldogs blew past Indiana State with a final score of 107-86 — only their second 100-point game of the season.
“The first quarter was exciting, kind of wish it was a little less so, but we fought, we battled, especially when Indiana State was able to build their early lead,” head coach Allison Pohlman said. “We dug our feet in the sand…I was pleased with our depth shining through. A lot to learn from today but proud of our squad to get a win like this in the Knapp Center. We just needed to hit the reset button and we did. Credit to Indiana State, they came in ready to play…a testament to how deep the Missouri Valley Conference is.”
On March 1, the Drake women’s team took on the University of Northern Iowa Panthers at UNI in a shootout that would prove to be a neck-in-neck competition. The team outshot the Panthers 25-18 in the first quarter followed by an 18-18 second-half ratio between the teams.
At the half, Drake was up 43-36 before outscoring the Panthers in the third quarter, but then took a 10-point deficit closing the score gap with seconds to go. The Bulldogs ended up coming away with an 80-79 point win on the road to advance their record to 20-9 overall for the season. This game made way for the men’s senior night on March 2.
The men’s team hosted the Missouri State Bears for the last game of the season in the Knapp for the conference closer. Drake was up on the Bears 29-28 at the half before the game picked up in the second, with the Bulldogs getting outscored 31-30. The game ended with a score of 59-59, pushing both teams into an overtime shootout.
The Bulldogs topped the Bears in overtime, allowing only one point through on the Bears offense and leading to a 68-60 Drake win.
The Knapp was covered in confetti in the regular conference championship title celebration and fans stayed for autographs and pictures with their favorite players before saying goodbye to the 2024-25 season. The team will now rest until March 6 when they will start the 2025 Arch Madness tournament, which spans until March 9 and will be the ticket for the Bulldogs into the biggest dance of the year: March Madness.
