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Drake (11-2, 0-0 MVC) at Evansville (6-7, 0-0 MVC) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)
Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Evansville, Indiana where the Purple Aces will play host to the Drake Bulldogs. While many teams in the Valley have been disappointments to start the season (i.e. Southern Illinois, Loyola-Chicago), one pleasant surprise that has emerged has been Drake’s start to the season. Their only losses were at Colorado and against Iowa State in the Hy-Vee Big 4 Classic. Their two best wins both came in the Las Vegas Classic where they beat WAC favorite New Mexico State and the San Diego Toreros to win the 4-team tournament prior to Christmas. Nick McGlynn leads the Bulldogs with 15.9 PPG and 7.4 RPG; Nick Norton also averages 14.7 PPG and 6.2 APG as well.
Evansville has had a bit of a rough transition during Walter McCarty’s first season as head coach of the Purple Aces. While they did get blown out by Illinois in their opener, they did give Xavier and Murray State a run for their money on the road during their noncon season, but the Murray State was a tough one to swallow after the Racers hit a game-winning layup with under a second to play. Their best win so far was a 12-point home victory against a Ball State team that figures to finish in the top half of the MAC. K.J. Riley leads Evansville with 13.9 PPG and 2.9 APG; John Hall averages 10.2 PPG and 8.2 RPG as well.