Determined Approach

Illinois State at Drake – Help the Bear

(St. Louis, MO) – One team has endured numerous injuries and has lost two straight games. The other has been healthy all year and has won two-in-a-row. When Drake entertains Illinois State Both of these teams come to Des Moines with a determined approach.

Illinois State (10-7, 2-4) has been short-handed all season, and Ryan Pedon’s team has lost three of their conference games by a total of nine points. The Redbirds lost their first game in overtime at Belmont and dropped a one-point decision to Northern Iowa this past weekend.

They’ve been missing Boden Skunberg and Brandon Lieb all season and lately Cameron Boser has been out.

Drake (14-2, 4-2) started the season with twelve straight victories. Included in that streak were three wins over ‘power conference’ teams. After a brief, two-game hiccup, Ben McCollum’s team has won its last two. The Bulldogs have been relatively healthy all season, though Isaiah Jackson is working through an ankle injury.

Determined Approach

In many ways, these two coaches seem cut from the same cloth. Each has a determined approach to help their teams improve throughout the season. While Pedon’s team has battled more adversity than McCollum’s, each is focused on the process more than instant gratification.

Illinois State has lost two straight and stand tenth in the Missouri Valley Conference race, but Pedon says his team isn’t looking at the standings. He wants to help his team process each situation.

Drake hasn’t been hit by the injury bug, but through the team’s first 14 games, very few players had been in McCollum’s active rotation. During the last two games, his bench has become more involved and highly effective.

McCollum says it took a while for some of his players to be fully ready to compete and succeed.

Drake’s Bennett Stirtz has been the early season, talk of the MVC. The 6’4 guard leads the Valley in assists, steals, minutes played, assist/turnover margin and is second in scoring. After playing at the Division 2 level, Stirtz came with McCollum from Northwest Missouri State to Drake.

The head coach says he could see those special traits in the high school version of Stirtz.

Illinois State’s Chase Walker was highly touted coming out of high school. But it has been the hard work since entering college that has caused the 6’9 sophomore to flourish. Walker has put his name near the top of the list for the Valley’s most improved player.

Determined Approach and Tenacity

McCollum’s determined approach involves enforcing your will on to situations. Whether it is about the playing great defense or a team-rebounding mindset, his teams compete and know what it takes to succeed.

He says he is a defensive coach, which ends up producing good offensive outputs. He’s always asks the question, ‘how do we beat the best?’

Pedon sounds similar when talking about the ‘want to’ in players and coaches. He says he wants to have a ‘help the bear’ mindset.

When speaking about the Bulldogs, Pedon explains his great respect for the way Drake plays. His research says Drake has a good blue-print and the right kind of players to succeed.

During league action, Drake leads the Valley in rebounding margin and scoring defense. McCollum says his players are single-minded about what it takes to win games. They aren’t worried about personal statistics, they look for ways to win.

Drake’s 28-game home winning streak was recently snapped and their new streak is one straight. Illinois State has been good on the road this season. Our ‘Gray Media – Missouri Valley Game of the Week’ tips at 8:00 pm. You can see our full interviews with each coach at mvc-sports.com.

When these two teams with a determined approach collide … help the bear.

Do Good