Jan. 18, 2011
Final Stats
Post-Game Interview
Play-by-Play Highlights
DES MOINES, Iowa - Drake buried 11 of its first 15 three-point attempts and held off a late Illinois State rally to post a 76-68 Missouri Valley Conference victory Tuesday night at the Knapp Center, as the Redbirds saw their losing streak increase to eight games.
Austin Hill paced Illinois State (8-11 overall, 0-8 in the Valley) with 18 points, while Jackie Carmichael and Blake Mishler added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Drake's Ryan Wedel led all scorers with 22 points, while Rayvonte Rice tossed in 17. The Bulldogs improved to 8-11 overall and 3-5 in the league.
Drake continued its hot shooting from outside the arc and opened the second half on an 11-2 run to build a 50-35 lead with 16:09 on the clock. The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 59-41 at the 11:28 media mark, but another trey by Rayvonte Rice gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game, 62-41, with 10:22 left.
Anthony Cousin scored nine-straight points for the Redbirds in the game's final four minutes, as Illinois State closed the deficit to 72-65, with 2:32 left in the game. ISU cut the lead down to 73-68, but could not get any closer.
Drake's Wedel set the tone for how the first half was going to play out by hitting his first three field goal attempts, all three-point baskets. Wedel gave Drake an early 9-4 lead and then the Bulldogs added an 8-2 run for its largest lead, 17-6, with 12:01 left in the first half. Thanks to seven first-half steals, the Redbirds battled back, but Drake's 7-for-10 shooting from three-point range in the first half resulted in a 39-33 Bulldog lead at the break.
Drake ended the game shooting 11-for-18 on threes, while the Redbirds were 2-for-15.
Illinois State is back in action Sunday night, when the Redbirds host Southern Illinois on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena, at 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
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