Final: WSU 63, DU 47. Four in a row at home. Old-timers would say this is how the Drake-WSU relationship is supposed to look. Since WSU has no old-timers on the roster, the Shockers will enjoy it as a win over the defending MVC champs. Gregg Marshall gets his biggest margin of victory in a Valley game.
1:21 remaining: WSU 59, DU 45. Lot at stake here. Marshall’s biggest margin of victory in an MVC game is 14 points. Drake’s lowest points total of the season is 44.
3:43 remaining: WSU 51, DU 36. WSU is in good shape if it can break Drake’s press and handle the ball enough to run clock. Drake has nine team fouls. WSU is 6 of 14 from the line, so you be the judge of how much of an edge that will be.
5:07 remaining: WSU 51, DU 34. Drake is 4 of 22 from three. Its season low in points is 44 against Missouri State.
6:45 remaining: WSU 46, DU 32.
7:10 remaining: WSU 46, DU 30. Two turnovers in three possessions for WSU. In between a quick shot that missed by Chamberlain. Drake, however, can do nothing with it. Its offense is in a terrible funk. Parker has 11 points. Cox has six. Nobody else more than four. The swings in the MVC are amazing this season. Drake won at Creighton a week ago and scored 74 points.
11:16 remaining: WSU 42, DU 27. Two things can ruin this for WSU – turnovers and fouls. Drake is going to drive and try to draw fouls because that’s the best way it can get back in the game. WSU has six fouls. Drake has four. Too many silly fouls will hurt.
15:16 remaining: WSU 41, DU 23. Durley with a rebound and dunk. Drake is 8 of 28 from the field. The Bulldogs have no inside threat and can’t get outside shots to fall. Nice defensive effort by WSU. Murry is hounding Young, who is 2 of 11 and 0 for 5 from three. Cox is 1 of 5 and 1 of 3. If those two don’t score, Drake has no chance.
17:00 remaining: WSU 39, DU 23. Murry with five straight points and the Shockers are off to a good start. Foul trouble could be an issue. Ellis, Hannah, Hawkins, Stutz and Durley all have two.
Halftime: WSU 32, DU 21. A 13-3 run sends WSU in the locker room with a lot of momentum. The first half was pretty boring until WSU started hitting threes. Drake seemed to panic a bit and took some quick shots, which only helped the Shockers get on the break and get open shots. WSU got good minutes from Reggie Chamberlain in place of Hannah at point guard. He has six points and looked comfortable handling the ball – he has one turnover and handled some tough spots late in the shot clock. Murry has eight points. Hawkins has four assists. He has made some good decisions to get the ball inside against Drake’s zone. Garrett Stutz tipped in a miss in the final seconds. Drake’s Josh Young is 2 of 10.
3:33 remaining: WSU 21, DU 18. WSU is 0 for 4 from the line. Drake is 3 of 8. Let’s hope the youngsters at home are not taking notes.
7:43 remaining: WSU 17, DU 17. Two turnovers for WSU, which is a much better pace than at Drake. The Shockers are up 11-8 on the boards. Josh Parker has six for Drake. Durley has four for WSU.
11:44 remaining: DU 13, WSU 12. Hannah has two fouls, which could turn into a problem. DU super-sub John Michael Hall is in. He scored 10 points in the game at Drake.
15:35 remaining: WSU 8, DU 5. Hannah is 7 of 8 on threes against Drake this season. Watch WSU’s inbound plays. The Shockers had a devil of a time inbounding at Des Moines. They put in two new plays Friday to get past that problem.
DU starters - Stanley, Young, Parker, Cox, Templeton. WSU – Hannah, Clemente, Durley, Hawkins, Murry.
Coaches are wearing sneakers for Coaches vs. Cancer Weekend. The refs are blowing pink whistles.
Welcome to spring in Wichita. Bob Lutz is wearing shorts and flip-flops to cover the game. Baseball practice starts tomorrow. It’s probably 25 degrees in Des Moines and 15 in Cedar Falls.
Is it too dramatic to say this three-game stretch (Drake, at Indiana State, at Evansville) decides the direction of WSU’s season? I don’t think so. If the Shockers want to crawl out of seventh place, they need to pull other teams down. Drake and Evansville are prime candidates. If they want to avoid finishing last, they need to keep Indiana State there. If they want to avoid finishing seventh or lower, they need to win some road games. Indiana State and Evansville are places WSU can win.
A 2-1 or 3-0 stretch keeps WSU afloat to escape the play-in round at 6-7 or 5-8 with five MVC games remaining. Anything less than that makes it difficult. A good stretch also keeps WSU in the realm of finishing .500 or better overall.
Bryce Mayes, a senior guard from Oxford, is watching today’s game. He scored 50 points against Elk Valley earlier this season.
Speaking of baseball, here is a story about WSU signee Preston Springer, a first baseman at Odessa (Texas).
Around the Valley
- Northern Iowa defeats Indiana State today in Terre Haute. No Larry Bird. No Carl Nicks on 1979 Sycamores reunion day. Isn’t it time to update some of the commercials on MVC broadcasts. When we’re watching Evansville play in sleeves and Indiana State’s Nate Green score on WSU’s Troy Mack, it’s time to freshen up that video a little.
- The miracles are not going Drake’s way this season.
- Creighton’s P’Allen Stinnett may be injured and out for Sunday’s game against Missouri State. That is a game he can afford to miss.
- Bryan Mullins. Somebody who knows his basketball said he would pick Mullins first in an MVC draft.
- P.J. Couisnard has 13 points in Soproni’s 98-75 win on Saturday. Manny Dies had 15 points and nine rebounds.