Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images Drake senior forward Darnell Brodie
The preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference looks for back-to-back wins to start the 2021-22 campaign when the Drake Bulldogs host the Summit League’s South Dakota Coyotes in Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday.
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The game (3 p.m. ET start time) isn’t on TV, but anyone in the US can watch South Dakota vs Drake live on ESPN+:
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You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
South Dakota vs Drake Preview
The Drake Bulldogs (1-0) take to the floor on Sunday looking to win their second game in the season’s opening week when they face-off with the South Dakota Coyotes (1-0) at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
The Bulldogs, who were the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference, got their 2021-22 campaign off to a flying start with an 87-61 win at home on Tuesday over the NCAA Division III’s Coe College.
Drake shot 52.7 percent from the field and connected on 12-of-23 from three-point distance in their sixth straight season-opening win.
Leading the way for the Bulldogs on offense were senior forward Tremell Murphy and freshman guard/forward Tucker DeVries, who each scored a team-high 14 points.
Murphy hit 5-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-3 from long range, and also added eight rebounds, three assists, and a steal. DeVries, who was Iowa’s Mr. Basketball last season at Waukee High School, also contributed six rebounds, two assists, and a steal in his collegiate debut.
Drake senior guards DJ Wilkins and Roman Penn filled up the stat sheet in the opener, with Wilkins scoring 11 points and contributing five assists and Penn netting 11 points and tallying four assists and three steals.
The Bulldogs return all five starters from a squad that went 26-5 last season and recorded their first NCAA Tournament win in 50 years. Drake gained an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after losing to Loyola-Chicago in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game and then went on to defeat Wichita State, 53-52, in the First Four. Their stellar season would come to an end at the hands of #6 USC in the West Regional’s first round.
The Coyotes come into Sunday’s contest fresh off their season-opening win over Air Force, 59-53, on the road on Thursday.
South Dakota shot only 36 percent from the field, knocking down 21-of-58 attempts, including hitting 6-of-18 from three-point range.
Junior guard Kruz Perrott-Hunt led the efforts for the Coyotes with a team-best 14 points and also added three rebounds and three assists.
Redshirt sophomore forward Hunter Goodrick put up 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Coyotes in his first action since the 2019-20 season. Goodrick, a native of Sydney, Australia, did not return to the U.S. last season during the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Dakota senior guards Xavier Fuller and Mason Archambault each had nine points in the win over Air Force.
The Coyotes, who are coming off a 2020-21 season when they went 14-11, were picked to finish fifth out of nine teams in the Summit League’s preseason poll.
Drake and South Dakota met twice last season, with the Bulldogs sweeping the series (69-53 and 75-57).
Following Sunday’s game, Drake will host Richmond on Saturday, Nov. 20 before traveling to Orlando, Florida to play Belmont in the ESPN Events Invitational on Thanksgiving day. South Dakota will take on Southern on Friday, Nov. 19 for their home opener.