Sports Analysis
When former Drake men’s basketball head coach Darian DeVries left for West Virginia last March, the program’s brightest days seemed behind them. Drake’s current head coach Ben McCollum buried that narrative, bringing his winning style of basketball from Division II to the Division I mid-major level.
Before the 2024-25 season, Drake was picked to finish No. 5 in the conference in the preseason poll. The team vastly outperformed the predictions. After starting the season 12-0, finishing the regular season with a 27-3 record and winning the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title, the Bulldogs won three games in the Arch Madness conference championship tournament to win the MVC.
The women’s team also finished another successful 20-win season. Heading into this season, the women were fresh off a conference championship and a March Madness appearance. They also retained head coach Allison Pohlman and star players Katie Dinnebier, Anna Miller and Courtney Becker. The expectations were high — Drake was picked to finish atop the conference in the preseason poll.
The team went into the conference tournament 21-10 with Dinnebier lighting the conference on fire — she averaged more than 32 points in the final seven regular season games. In the MVC tournament, Dinnebier led the Bulldogs to a victory over Illinois State. Drake’s run ended, however, against Murray State in the semifinals.
How did McCollum and the men’s team pull off the Arch Madness victory, and how did Dinnebier, Miller and Becker finish their senior seasons? This article breaks down every conference tournament game the men’s and women’s teams played this season.
Drake men’s basketball fends off SIU
On Thursday, March 6, the SIU Salukis (No. 8 in the conference) took down the Indiana State University Sycamores (No. 9) in a thrilling 86-85 victory, setting up a date with Drake, which had a first-round bye.
The Bulldogs started slowly against the Salukis — a team they downed twice in the regular season. Through 12 minutes, the game was tied at 16 points apiece. But the tides turned when Drake freshman Isaia Howard drilled a three-pointer to put Drake up 19-16, sparking a scoring run. The Bulldogs ended the first half with a 36-25 lead.
Drake continued to suffocate the Salukis and pour on points in the second half, never surrendering the lead. The Bulldogs ended up with a 70-53 victory; Howard led the way with 21 points off the bench and Bennett Stirtz added 15 points and five assists in the effort.
Drake survives test from Belmont
After Drake took down SIU, the Belmont Bruins defeated Illinois State 76-63, advancing to the semifinals. Drake and Belmont only played once in the regular season, but the Bulldogs won 65-46 — Belmont’s lowest-scoring game all season. But in the first half of the semifinal matchup, the roles reversed, with the Bruins stymying the Bulldogs’ offense. Belmont led 30-21 at halftime.
Coming out of the half, the Bulldogs looked to Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year award winner Stirtz for a solution. He went on a 9-0 individual scoring run to start the half, but the Bruins led until the nine-minute mark.
Bulldog guard Isaiah Jackson gave Drake its first lead by splashing two free throws; the score was 40-39 Drake. Belmont never regained a lead. Drake held the Bruins scoreless for the game’s final two minutes, winning 57-50 and advancing to the school’s fifth consecutive Arch Madness championship game. Stirtz led Drake in scoring with 24 points.
Drake wins conference with victory over Bradley
On the other side of the conference bracket, the No. 2 seeded Bradley Braves defeated Murray State and Valparaiso to reach the championship game. The Braves and the Bulldogs split the regular season series; Drake won at Bradley and the Braves returned the favor with a win over Drake in Des Moines a month and a half later.
At the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, the Bradley fans traveled well and made their presence known, significantly raising the decibel level every time Bradley scored, but the Bulldogs’ slow pace of play and tenacious defense contained Bradley and its raucous crowd — for the most part.
The first half of the championship game lived up to the excitement, with eight lead changes and five ties. Fans on both sides voiced their support, but Drake seized momentum going into halftime after a last-second transition layup by Jackson, solidifying a 31-27 Bulldog lead.
With 11 minutes left in the second half, Drake built a 10-point lead, keeping the Bradley faithful quiet. But Bradley seniors Duke Deen and Darius Hannah made three-point shots to cut Drake’s lead to 46-41, electrifying their fans.
Then, a 9-0 run by Drake effectively iced the game. With just under six minutes left in regulation, Stirtz rose over Bradley’s 5-foot-11 Jaquan Johnson to splash a three-pointer, widening the lead to 53-41. Then, with three and a half minutes left, Stirtz went soaring on a transition dunk to put an exclamation point on the game.
As the seconds ticked off on the clock, McCollum took off his iconic blue tie, folded it and put it in his pocket. The Bulldogs had done it. A year ago, McCollum was a Division II coach, and Stirtz, Mitch Mascari, Jackson and Abreu were Division II players. Now, after defeating Bradley, they were MVC champions.
Drake women’s basketball holds off Redbird attack
The No. 4 seeded Drake Bulldogs secured a first-round bye in the women’s conference tournament and drew the No. 5 seeded Illinois State Redbirds in the quarterfinal matchup. The Redbirds improved their season record to 21-11 after taking down SIU 88-48 in the first round of the conference tournament. Drake beat the Redbirds twice in the regular season and completed the season sweep with a win in the conference tournament.
Illinois State started the game with a three-pointer from Maya Wong, but it was all Bulldogs for the rest of the first half. Drake immediately took the lead and held it through the first half.
Heading into the third quarter, Drake was up 33-31. The Redbirds finally took the lead with just under seven minutes left in the quarter and held it at 53-52 going into the final quarter.
The Redbirds held their advantage until the five-minute mark in the final quarter until Anna Miller drained a three-pointer to put Drake up 62-61. Illinois State immediately regained the lead and held it until 28 seconds remained in regulation.
Miller came in clutch again for Drake, hitting another three-pointer to put Drake up 69-67. The Bulldogs played lockdown defense and won at the free-throw line. When the buzzer went off, Drake advanced to the semifinal game with a 75-69 win.
Racers outpace Bulldogs in shootout
Drake women’s basketball matched up against the high-scoring Murray State Racers in the semifinal game. Drake won once and lost once to Murray State in the regular season, setting up a rubber match in Evansville, where Murray State took the season series with a 96-90 win. The Racers, first in the nation in points per game with 87.8, proved too potent on offense for Drake to contain.
The Racers stayed ahead of the Bulldogs for most of the game. Drake surged in the final minutes, bringing the score to 94-89 with nine seconds left, but it wasn’t enough to win the game.
Dinnebier pieced together a heroic effort, dropping a career-high 45 points and shooting 17-33 from the field; she added five assists and six rebounds.
The next day, Murray State defeated Belmont in the conference championship game 83-62, securing a bid to the NCAA March Madness tournament.
