Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, February 4th

Drake (18-4, 9-2) at Indiana State (19-3, 10-1) – 6:00 PM ET (ESPN2)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day looms as the Game of the Year in the Missouri Valley Conference as the Drake Bulldogs head east to visit the Indiana State Sycamores. Drake beat the Trees at home 89-78 back in January; Tucker DeVries had 29 points (including 6 three-point shots) for the Bulldogs in that game. Losses at Belmont and Missouri State mean that Drake probably needs to win a game like this if they have dreams of getting an at-large NCAA Tournament spot.

As of Thursday night’s Bracket Rundown podcast here on Hoops HD, we had Indiana State as an #11 seed above the First Four, so they would be above the bubble cut-line for the time being. While Indiana State has a very good overall record, their best nonconference win is Toledo. This means that the Trees really need to win the regular season title in the Valley at a minimum if they want to remain in at-large territory come March. Isaiah Swope had 18 points for ISU in their 78-72 win at Belmont in their last game.