Drake University men’s and women’s basketball took the court for the second part of the 2025-26 season with games that left fans ready for what is to come. Both teams faced hard losses and big wins going into February that will set them up in different positions going into the Missouri Valley Conference tournament season. With the conference tournaments on the men’s and women’s side just a month away, both teams have shown they have what it takes to keep up with the best in the Valley.
On the men’s side, there was excitement all around in the past week with the team on a three-game win streak. Drake took on Missouri State University at home in the Knapp Center on Jan. 21 and won 101-90, with Jalen Quinn shooting a season-high 34 points.
The Bulldogs then took on Indiana State University on Jan. 24 and came up with a 76-62 win over the Sycamores on the road before coming home and beating the University of Evansville Aces 82-78 on Jan. 28. The men’s team then hosted Bradley University on Jan. 31 for a nailbiting game that went with both teams battling back and forth until the last five minutes of the game. Even with Drake’s best efforts, the team fell 87-73 against Bradley to cap off the month of January.
“We got off to such a great start,” head coach Eric Henderson said about the loss to Bradley. “We had good energy, the crowd was into it, and then, honestly, [Bradley] got a couple offensive rebounds that gave them energy and they got a couple threes off of that. Then it was downhill from there as far as guarding the arc.”
The men’s team will take on Belmont University next in Nashville on Feb. 3 with tip off at 8 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN and ESPN+.
The women’s team took on four conference opponents to end January and go into February. The Bulldogs first hosted the University of Evansville Aces on Jan. 23. Drake swept past the Aces 97-82 before hosting Murray State University on Jan. 25 and falling to the Racers 88-89. On Jan. 29, Drake traveled to Bradley to take on the Braves in Illinois to wrap up the month and fell 85-79.
The Bulldogs hosted in-state rivals the University of Northern Iowa on Feb. 1 in the Knapp Center. The game was back and forth down to the last three minutes when the Bulldogs fell 66-56 to the Panthers.
“We were really in it, stayed super aggressive through the third quarter,” head coach Allison Pohlman said about the UNI loss. “We hung around and hung around, and then they went to their iso plays and started fouling too much. All the credit to UNI, [Ryley] Goebel had the game of her life, and they threw a number of different things at us, and we just didn’t respond.”
Next, the women’s team plays the Belmont University Bruins on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. in the Knapp Center.
