Missouri Valley First Place Battles – Iowa Rivalry

Part Two – Drake at Northern Iowa

(St. Louis, MO) – Longtime rivals and neighbors will face off with first-place implications in Cedar Falls on Saturday. In Part One of this series we focused on the first of two, ‘big four’ games being played in the Missouri Valley Conference Saturday.

Missouri State visits Loyola at 2:30 on CBS Sports Network.

Every prognosticator in the nation predicted these four teams would battle for the Valley title and they haven’t disappointed. Loyola is nationally ranked and undefeated in league play. After some early narrow losses, Northern Iowa is 5-2 in conference play. At 4-2 the battered Drake Bulldogs are hanging tough and Missouri State may be the hottest team in the league. The Bears are 5-2.

Saturday’s second ‘big four’ matchup pairs the Iowa schools against one another. This isn’t the Hatfields and the McCoys, but these Iowa cousins don’t like to lose to one another. While Northern Iowa has a commanding lead in the all-time series (50-30), Drake has won the last three games.

They are often recruiting many of the same players from their state and from the northern Midwest region. Bragging rights in a game like this can go a long way. These two teams have been battling Loyola for the Valley crown the last couple of years and now they square off in a key midseason contest with first place survival implications. After these two depleted teams took losses Wednesday, one of them is in danger of falling three games back of first place.

Drake (4-2) @ Northern Iowa (5-2) – 5 pm – ESPNU

UNI (9-8, 5-2) is a unique team with a unique record. They lost their first two games. Games that coach Ben Jacobson will no longer talk about. After a win over Dubuque, they gave nationally ranked Arkansas all they could handle and then beat then nationally ranked St. Bonaventure. They are typically part of the Valley’s ‘big four’.

Drake (13-6, 4-2) had won four straight prior to Wednesday’s rare home loss to Bradley. How are they succeeding with such a scaled down rotation is a testament to coach Darian DeVries’ coaching ability and the resiliency of these players. They are a study in fortitude. Two of their recent four wins have been one-point, road decisions.

A Closer Look at the Panthers

A two-point, road loss opened their Valley season and that was followed by a loss to Richmond. The Panthers have not played an easy schedule. UNI won two games before heading to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic where the whole team was dealing with the flu and lost two, two-point games. Jacobson’s squad has gone 5-1 since then. The only loss was in overtime at Valpo on Wednesday.

Just as star guard A.J. Green was seemingly shaking off the rust of hip injuries and early season flu, he missed Wednesday’s game on Covid protocols and likely will miss Saturday’s game. The 6’4 junior has collected three, 30-point performances. Two of those during Valley play where he is averaging 21.3 points per game. He has dialed up his game during conference action.

UNI has gone through a transition. Jacobson was planning on big contributions from Austin Phyfe, but the big center has been in and out of the lineup with long-term covid effects. Some games he can play extended minutes and sometimes, he cannot play at all. He played 12 minutes on Wednesday.

Noah Carter was slotted as a super sub. He can play four positions and is a high energy, offensively talented player. Over the last six games Jacobson has started Carter at ‘the five’ and he creates unique matchup problems for opposing defenses.

The 6’6 sophomore has reeled off seven straight double-digit scoring performances highlighted by a 33-point performance in Green’s absence on Wednesday. He’s converting better than 50% of his shots and as Jacobson often says, “he’s one of those guys, that their shots just seem to roll in”.

UNI is really playing a modified ‘five out’ offense and succeeding. During league play they are averaging 79.7 points per game. The Panthers are known for taking a lot of threes, but this team has backed off that some and are just in the middle of the Valley pack in made three-pointers.

Green, Nate Heise (10.4 ppg) and Trae Berhow (9.5 ppg) are efficient from deep and the Panthers like to play at a faster pace than most. UNI is outstanding from the free throw line and guard the defensive glass like it is their collective lunch money. They are not tall nor physical, so fundamental defensive team rebounding is key.

UNI had a little deeper rotation than Drake prior to Green’s likely covid absence, now both teams are playing shorthanded.

A Closer Look at the Bulldogs

Freshman of the Year candidate Tucker DeVries has contributed from day one. The coach’s son leads the Bulldogs in scoring (13.4 ppg) and three-point baskets (46). He is a responsible defender and a willing passer. As a four-star recruit coming out of high school, this isn’t surprising, but to lead this senior and grad-student laden team like this is remarkable.

All-Valley forward ShanQuan (Tank) Hemphill has never truly recovered from last year’s lower leg injury. When he has played (15 of 19 games), his explosiveness and quickness are lacking and his effectiveness down. He has not played the last three games.

All-Valley guard Roman Penn has never truly recovered from his foot injury that ended last season. He sustained a small fracture in that same foot this year, missed some games and is back playing, but coach DeVries is limiting his practice and game time.

Penn is effective, but doesn’t have the same burst we are used to seeing. He’s scoring (10.4 ppg) and commanding the offense, but he isn’t the same player we saw a year ago.

This team is experienced and talented, there just aren’t many of them. Tremell Murphy, D.J. Wilkins and Garrett Sturtz all arrived with DeVries four years ago and have been staples to the Bulldog success. Murphy and Wilkins are proven winners and both average over nine points-per-game. Wilkins is the team’s best three-point shooter.

The team MVP at this point is Sturtz. A former walk-on, Sturtz leads the team in rebounding (7.1) and second in scoring (10.5 ppg) coming off the Drake bench. He is a two-time Valley all-bench team member and despite being 6’3, he has collected nearly 600 rebounds during his career. His tenacity on the boards and to do whatever is necessary for team success is what is keeping this team afloat.

DeVries has six players he can rely upon. Perhaps Tank will return Saturday, but even if he does, what he can contribute will be limited. They need center Darnell Brodie to be the player he was last season. He’s playing fewer minutes, scoring less points and grabbing fewer rebounds than last season.

This team is greatly coached and the players are talented and work well together. You wonder how long they can hold up.

What the Iowa Rivalry Means

Drake’s basketball pedigree does not match Northern Iowa’s but under Darian DeVries, they have been exceptional. The former UNI player has won 83 games and lost just 35. In three-plus years, he already has collected the sixth most wins by any Bulldog coach. He has put Des Moines on the college basketball map.

UNI is the picture of stability, professionalism and ‘Jake and the Giant Killers’ have a habit of knocking off nationally ranked teams. The last two season however, have been a struggle. Jacobson is the winningest coach in UNI history. Last season, without Green they went 10-15 and are a .500 team this year.

DeVries and Jacobson, both have a love for Iowa basketball and appreciate the history associated with their programs and their rivalry.

 

 

So this becomes a pivotal game for this conference race, but also as these programs look forward into continuing to build their ‘brand’ and their reach in the region.

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