It might not have been pretty, but Drake men’s basketball secured its first three-game winning streak this season.
The Bulldogs (12-10, 6-5 MVC) took down Evansville (5-16, 1-9 MVC), 82-78, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, thanks to a late, second-half comeback. Drake held the lead for just over two-and-a-half minutes, which included a short 1-0 span after Jalen Quinn went 1-of-2 on free throws to start the game.
Advertisement
Here are three takeaways from the Bulldogs’ win over Evansville.
Drake’s Andrew Alia (21) takes the ball down the court during a game against Western Illinois on Dec. 2, 2025, at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.
The Bulldogs, somehow, complete the second-half comeback
Evansville started the second half as the stronger team, making nine-straight shots – including five 3-pointers. The Purple Aces climbed to a 19-point lead in the first seven minutes of the second half, and then that lead began to dwindle.
It wasn’t so much what Evansville didn’t do as what Drake did.
The Bulldogs went from shooting 32.1% overall and 20% from 3-point range in the first half to 56.5% overall and 50% from deep in the second. Drake took advantage of more trips to the foul line, sinking 28 of 38 free throws – compared to Evansville’s 7-of-12.
Advertisement
“We’ve talked a lot about it,” said head coach Eric Henderson about Drake staying out of foul trouble. “It’s one of the margins that we were on the wrong side of. And so, we knew that if we wanted to start changing some of the results…that we needed to change that, and get to the foul line a little bit more ourselves, but not let the other team get there as much.”
Drake fell into old habits against Evansville
One week ago, the Bulldogs scored 101 points and handed Murray State its first conference loss of the season. Drake built off that win and took down Indiana State on the road, marking the first time Henderson’s squad strung together back-to-back wins since early December.
But against the Purple Aces, the Bulldogs looked like a shell of the team that took the court last week.
Advertisement
The home team didn’t start with energy, and it took until halfway through the second frame for Drake to find its footing. Evansville didn’t play a perfect game, by any means, but the Purple Aces did enough to hold onto a lead for over 32 minutes.
“We didn’t have great energy to start, but we were able to find it,” Henderson said. “Once we started picking up full court, honestly, I think it kind of changed the energy for our team, and then we were able to make some runs.
“And then it got the energy changed in the Knapp Center, and we were able to finish it off.”
Evansville records one of its better 3-point shooting performances
The Purple Aces, statistically, are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. They shot 30.8% from behind the arc and averaged 7.1 per game entering Wednesday night’s contest.
Advertisement
The Bulldogs struggled to slow down Evansville, though. The Purple Aces posted a 50% success rate from 3-point range, making 11 of 22 attempts. Three players – Leif Moeller, Joshua Hughes and Alex Hemenway – each scored three.
“They were comfortable,” Henderson said. “They were getting assisted field goal attempts, too. And so, we were just a little bit off balance, and they took good shots. …I just didn’t love the lack of maybe some physicality on the basketball…and that’s why we decided to pick up full court and just try to change the feel of the game a little bit.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake basketball takes down Evansville with late second-half comeback
