Drake (24-2, 15-2) vs. Illinois State (7-16, 4-13)
Redbird Arena, Normal, Illinois; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State looks for its eighth straight win over Drake at Redbird Arena. The last victory for the Bulldogs at Illinois State was an 82-77 win on Jan. 12, 2013.
TEAM LEADERSHIP: The Bulldogs have been led by Tremell Murphy and Joseph Yesufu. Murphy is averaging 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds while Yesufu is putting up 11.2 points per game. The Redbirds have been led by sophomores DJ Horne and Antonio Reeves, who are scoring 14.5 and 12.6 per game, respectively.
CREATING OFFENSE: Yesufu has been directly responsible for 43 percent of all Drake field goals over the last three games. The sophomore guard has 28 field goals and 10 assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: Illinois State is 0-15 this year when it scores 68 points or fewer and 7-1 when it scores at least 69.
SHARING THE BURDEN: Drake is a perfect 23-0 when at least three of its players score 10 or more points. The team is 1-2 when fewer than three Bulldogs players score in double-figures.
DID YOU KNOW: The Drake offense has recorded a turnover on only 15.8 percent of its possessions, which is the 23rd-lowest rate in the nation. The Illinois State defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 16.9 percent of all possessions (ranked 297th among Division I teams).
___
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25
___
This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
