Drake closes its home schedule Monday night with the second of two games against the Purple Aces of Evansville, IN.
Bettors may want to keep an eye on the point spread and moneyline for tonight’s game.
Drake’s medical staff planned to evaluate starting point guard Roman Penn today after he left the court in Sunday’s 85-71 win over the Aces (8-13, 6-9 MVC). The Bulldogs (22-2, 13-2) are already playing without leading scorer ShanQuan Hemphill, who underwent surgery Feb. 11 for a broken foot.
Tip for Monday’s game is 6 p.m. at Knapp Center in Des Moines. ESPN+ will stream the game and Mediacom will carry the contest on its MC22 channel.
Evansville vs. Drake odds
With Hemphill out and Penn limited, Drake looked for scoring elsewhere Sunday — and found it in Joseph Yesufu. He finished with a career-high 32 points for the Bulldogs.
Coach Darian DeVries told reporters:
“Joe had a special night. That’s one of the best ones I’ve seen for a while. It was fun to see him get in that zone and the guys continue to feed him. … He’s so fast and hard to stay in front of. Offensively he’s got all the tools and you’re starting to see that come out as he gets more comfortable.”
Teams trending in different directions
Evansville is on a five-game losing streak. Shamar Givance led the Aces in scoring with 19 points. Evan Kuhlman and Iyen Enaruna each chipped in 13 on Sunday.
Drake is trying to keep pace with No. 21 Loyola Chicago in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. The Bulldogs and Ramblers (14-2 in the MVC) split their season series and both have one other loss in the conference. Drake continues to receive votes in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll.
Iowa State vs. No. 2 Baylor on Tuesday
Iowa State has a tough assignment Tuesday as it travels to one of the two unbeaten teams in Division I men’s basketball. The Cyclones fell to then-No. 9 Oklahoma 66-56 in Ames to extend a 12-game losing streak. They are 0-13 in the Big 12.
You’ll see odds for Tuesday’s game below once sportsbooks set the line:
Barring additional health and safety schedule changes, Iowa State closes the regular season on Saturday with a home game vs. TCU.
FanDuel puts the Cyclones and Horned Frogs at +15000 to win the March 10-13 conference tournament in Kansas City.
