Drake Topples Miami! Admire Explains

Bulldogs with Power 4 Win

(St. Louis, MO) – Ben McCollum answered the ‘can McCollum coach at the Division 1 level’ emphatically today as Drake topples Miami. The Bulldogs never trailed during the Missouri Valley Conference’s first ‘power conference’ win of the early season. Drake’s upset of the Atlantic Coast Conference team (80-69) is part of the first day of multi-team event action at the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic.

Bulldog play-by-play man Michael Admire joined us and gives us a behind the scenes look at the upset and Drake’s first four games.

The Bulldogs opened the game with seven straight points and never relinquished the lead and earned its first ACC win since 2017 and its first against a power conference team since 2022.

Bennett Stirtz led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Daniel Abreu recorded his first D1 double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing ten rebounds. Stirtz added six assists. Mitch Mascari added 15 points, but it was the Bulldog defense that sparked the victory.

Admire joined us for an in depth conversation about the game and the season. Head to Valley Hoops Insider Podcasts to hear his analysis.

Miami came into the game averaging 98 points-per-game, but the Bulldog defenders held to Hurricanes to just 69 points. Drake stifled the Hurricane shooters. They made just 30 percent of their first half shots and just over 40 percent of their entire game total.

McCollum won 81% of his games at Division 2 Northwest Missouri State (394 wins) and is yet to taste defeat at the D1 level. Stirtz, Abreu and Mascari were NWMSU Bearcats last season.

The Bulldogs now face Florida Atlantic in the Classic’s second round. Game time is set for 10:30 a.m. and can be seen on ESPN2.

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