Tag: Drake Bulldogs

Drake star with close ties to Dana Altman enters transfer portal

A small forward with high scoring averages and ties to Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks in the transfer portal. Worth a look?

Dana Altman continually reminds anyone who will listen that the world of college basketball is evolving before our very eyes and those who adjust the quickest will be successful and not have to play catch up.

One of those huge changes is the transfer portal with more and more players entering it year by year. To Altman and Oregon’s credit, they’re one of the programs that has adjusted nicely. The Ducks are successful more times than not when it comes to the portal.

Every season. the Oregon roster consists of several players that come through that portal and one player with ties to the Duck program just entered the portal.

Drake star Tucker DeVries, a 6-foot-7 small forward from Waukee, Iowa, averaged over 21 points a game, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Bulldogs. He’s also the two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.

So what’s the Oregon connection?

DeVries’ father, Darian, was an assistant under Altman while he was at Creighton. But the odds are the younger DeVries heads to West Virginia to play for his dad, who was just named as the Mountaineers’ new head coach. The Ducks also offered DeVries a scholarship when he was coming out of high school.

Teams are going to be lining up to obtain the services of DeVries, however, and nothing is a sure thing. He would fit right in to the Oregon lineup, which needs a shooter on the wing.

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Where is Drake located as the Bulldogs play in March Madness 2024?

The midwestern university is the second most relevant result when you search “Drake basketball loss.”

If it’s March and we’re talking about Drake, it means one of two things. Most commonly, a certain Degrassi: The Next Generation star turned rapper has cursed whatever team has a rolling bandwagon with his fanhood. In 2024, this is the Houston Cougars.

Recently, however, it means the Drake Bulldogs have emerged as Missouri Valley Conference tournament champions, punching their dance ticket in hopes of escaping to their first Round of 32 appearance since 1972. This year, that came at the expense of Indiana State, sending one of the country’s most popular mid-majors to the NIT and heaping loads of scorn onto the selection committee.

The Sycamore’s loss is Iowa’s gain, however. Drake is located in the state capital of Des Moines, roughly three miles from the state capitol and, for a much more useful waypoint, less than two miles from the Big Grove Brewery and Taproom.

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March Madness: Best NCAA Tournament first-round upset picks and predictions

Analyzing NCAA Tournament betting odds for the first round, with predictions and picks for the 4 best underdog bets.

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Cinderella stories are always a fun part of the Big Dance — especially so when we have projected those stories alongside underdog wagers. Below, we break down Tipico Sportsbook’s NCAA Tournament odds and lines and list the best first-round upset bets to cash in on among SportbookWire’s expert college basketball picks and predictions.

It does not always have to be a bet returning enough to finance a Disney movie. It is just plain fun to do the research, make the right call, and be on that side when millions of hoops viewers are stunned (or even mildly surprised) when upsets roll across all the screens where we take in games and results. Let’s identify 4 such plus-money plays in this week’s first-round games.

See Top 25: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

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NCAA Tournament first-round upset picks

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 11:10 a.m. ET. All game times ET.

PENN STATE +2.5 (-102) vs. Texas A&M – Thursday, 7:25 p.m.

Penn State is one of several Big Ten teams not named Purdue worth keeping an eye on this first weekend. Teams from this conference are coming out of a meat-grinder, a high-quality round-robin that has leveled stats more so than the talents behind them.

With a 38.5% mark from 3-point-land (13th), the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions can bomb their way into a dogfight with the No. 7 Aggies. PSU also plays at a slowest-third tempo; some slower teams that have beaten Texas A&M outright include Boise State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Wofford.

Penn State does well to defend inside and hang onto the basketball, and those strengths fly in the face of what the Aggies want to do. The Lions are a live dog in this match-up.

DRAKE +2.5 (-112) vs. Miami – Friday, 7:25 p.m.

This contest is a 12-5 (DU-UM) Midwest Region battle in Albany. It features a Miami Hurricanes squad that may be getting a little too much credit coming out of a weaker-than-usual ACC squaring off with a Drake five on a roll. The Bulldogs are 13-1 over their last 14 games and have outscored foes by an average of 14.7 points while shooting 40.9% from distance over that stretch.

DU is an experienced bunch and one that plays responsible ball at both ends of the floor. Miami can sometimes struggle against teams that defend the perimeter well; that’s a Drake strength (30.6% 3-point defense (30th)).

Under coach Jim Larrañaga, the Hurricanes are 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 NCAA tourney games.

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MONTANA STATE +8.5 (-110) vs. Kansas State – Friday, 9:40 p.m.

It’s cat-scratch fever in this East Region game in Greensboro on Friday. The 14th-seed Bobcats are taking on the No. 3 Wildcats, but peg this as more of a wild opportunity for more of a bracket run than just a 1-time upset. There are some weak spots in the potential 2nd and 3rd games should Montana State advance here.

Kansas State has logged back-to-back flat performances, and the Wildcats are just a few weeks removed from a similar stretch in February. MSU gets to the line a ton (9th most free throws per game nationally), and the Bobcats enter the East Region brackets having won 8 consecutive games.

FURMAN +5.5 (-110) vs. Virginia – Thursday, 12:40 p.m.

Furman — the No. 13 seed in the South Region — is a live wire due to the percentage of buckets it gets at the rim and from 3-point range. The Paladins gave tourney-entrant Penn State a game back in November (73-68 loss on Nov. 17). They swept Southern Conference titles in the regular season and circuit tournament, and they enter the Big Dance with a 14-1 record since Jan. 18.

Virginia can struggle offensively and is shooting just 28.4% from distance since Feb. 7. Under coach Tony Bennett, UVA is 7-13 ATS in NCAA Tournament play.

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2022 Missouri Valley Conference tournament: Best bets, sleepers and storylines

Previewing the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament.

When you think of the Missouri Valley Conference, what comes to mind? Some will think of Larry Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores. Many will remember “The Shot” from Ali Farokhmanesh to lift Northern Iowa over Kansas in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. But the majority of people will bring up Loyola Chicago and all the noise the team has made in recent years come tourney time.

Although the MVC has its household name (Loyola), the conference has continuously proven its competitive balance through the years — 2022 is no different. The MVC standings concluded with at least four teams turning in double-digits conference wins for the fourth straight season. Likewise, it was the fourth year in a row that the top two seeds finished no more than a game apart in the standings.

Another competitive tournament is slated for March 3rd. Let’s dig into everything from sleeper teams to players to watch.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook

Clemson ends skid with overtime win over Drake

ATLANTA – Clemson’s men’s basketball team found itself in an all-too-familiar position Saturday afternoon. They needed a little longer than they would’ve liked, but this one eventually turned out better than the other ones for the Tigers. After …

ATLANTA – Clemson’s men’s basketball team found itself in an all-too-familiar position Saturday afternoon.

They needed a little longer than they would’ve liked, but this one eventually turned out better than the other ones for the Tigers.

After watching one sizable lead after another slip away during their recent skid, Clemson used four double-digit scorers to hold off Drake in overtime for its best win of the non-conference schedule so far. Clemson’s 90-80 victory at the Holiday Hoopsgiving event inside State Farm Arena was just its second since Nov. 18 and ended a two-game skid.

Clemson (6-4) led by as many as 11 in the final 20 minutes Saturday but went the final 6 minutes, 34 seconds of regulation without a basket. Drake (6-4) eventually caught up to force overtime, but the Tigers scored the first five points in the extra frame and later got back-to-back 3-pointers from Al-Amir Dawes and Nick Honor for a three-possession lead that all but iced the win, one that was too close for comfort but one the Tigers will take considering how things have gone lately.

PJ Hall paced Clemson with 22 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Dawes finished with 19 points while David Collins, Alex Hemenway and Honor added 19, 12 and 12, respectively.

Clemson came in losers of four of its last five games, letting some pretty significant cushions slip away in all of them. Three of those losses came after the Tigers held double-digit leads in the second half.

It happened again Saturday with Clemson taking multiple double-digit cushions late against Drake, the last coming after Hall’s old-fashioned three-point play at the end of the putback put the Tigers up 69-58 with 6:35 left.

But the Bulldogs kept coming.

Clemson went without a basket for the rest of regulation, and Drake used a 13-3 run to get within one with less than a minute left. Honor drew a foul on Drake’s Garrett Sturtz as the shot clock wound down on the Tigers’ next possession and sank both free throws to make it a three-point game before Tremell Murphy buried a tying 3 from the top of the key to tie it with 13 seconds left.

Clemson took a timeout with 8.9 seconds left to draw up one final play for Hall, who got the entry pass from Honor just feet from the basket. But his turnaround jumper fell short, sending the game to overtime.

Dawes had 13 points in the first half, including a 3 to cap a 7-0 run for Clemson going to the locker room. The Tigers also got a lift off the bench from Hemenway to take a 39-32 lead at the break.

Hemenway sank a trio of 3s in the opening 20 minutes to help spark the Tigers after a slow start. Clemson missed on six of its first eight shots before Hall, Hemenway and Dawes scored on three straight trips to give the Tigers their first lead. Hemenway knocked down another trey two possessions later, and by the time he did so again with 7:39 left in the first half, he already had a season-high in points, surpassing the six he scored against Charleston Southern and Temple.

Clemson took its biggest lead of the half at 32-24 on Collins’ layup with 5:20 remaining, but Drake stayed close by knocking down six 3s of its own in the opening 20 minutes. D.J. Wilkins and Murphy sank back-to-back 3-balls to start an 8-0 run that drew the Bulldogs even before Clemson answered with its own spurt in the final 1:47 to take momentum back at the half.

This story will be updated.

HALFTIME REPORT: Alabama up on Drake at the half 33-29

20 more minutes of basketball remaining for the Tide! They lead 33-29 at the half.

After dropping one to the Iona Gaels in the ESPN Events Invitational, the Crimson Tide are hoping for a better outcome today against the Drake Bulldogs, another 2020 NCAA Tournament team.

After jumping to a 15-point lead a few minutes before the half, the Crimson Tide committed a few turnovers and allowed the Bulldogs to fight back to within four. The score is now 33-29 with 20 minutes to go.

Alabama is, again, having a bad day shooting free throws midway through this game. The Tide has hit on just 2-6.

Turnovers are still a lingering issue, for sure, with the Tide giving it up 11 times in the first half.

The Crimson Tide are shooting 48.3%, including 30% from three.

Alabama’s leading scorer is Jaden Shackelford with 10 points, he’s also added a pair of rebounds to his stat line.

Defensively, the Crimson Tide is allowing 42% shooting and 43% from three-point range.

Drake is led in scoring by Shanquan Hemphill with eight points and three rebounds.

With a full half of basketball remaining, Alabama is still in a good position to get back in the win column.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Layne Gerbig on Twitter @LayneG_29.

Oklahoma hiring Drake’s Jennie Baranczyk as new head women’s basketball coach

Oklahoma is hiring Drake’s Jennie Baranczyk as the new head coach of the Sooners women’s basketball.

A little over three weeks after long-time Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale announced her retirement, the Sooners have found her replacement.

Former Drake head coach Jennie Baranczyk was officially announced as the new leader of the program on Saturday in an official release.

At just 39 years old, Baranczyk built Drake into one of the very best programs in the Missouri Valley Conference, winning the league in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She was also named the coach of the year in the conference in both 2017 and 2018. She previously spent time at Kansas State, Marquette and Colorado as an assistant before taking over with the Bulldogs in 2012.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be named the next head coach for the University of Oklahoma’s women’s basketball program and follow the highly successful and much-admired Sherri Coale,” said Baranczyk in the release. “My coaching philosophy is based upon the most powerful human emotion to me and that is love. The players who put on this jersey must love the game, love to compete and love OU.

“We are going to compete at the highest level on the court and in the classroom. We will play hard, play together and be fun to watch. I’m looking forward to being at Oklahoma where there are amazing people and where we can – and will – compete for championships.”

As a player, Baranczyk (then by the name of Jennie Lillis) was one of the elite players in the history of the Iowa Hawkeyes. From 2000-2004, she was an all-Big Ten selection three times and graduated as the only player in program history inside the top 10 in all five categories of points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

Now, she takes over the helm for the legendary Coale to try and get Oklahoma women’s basketball back to prestige it once had. Athletic director Joe Castiglione released a statement on the new hire:

“This is a truly exciting day for our university and athletics department, as we welcome Jennie Baranczyk as our new head women’s basketball coach,” said Castiglione. “Her track record of overseeing creative and effective offenses, and producing high win totals, conference championships and postseason appearances during her time at Drake certainly appealed to our search committee as it evaluated the very competitive candidate pool. But her mastery of the head coaching role extends far beyond the court, and it’s clear that her personal and professional values align with ours.

“Jennie prioritizes the overall well-being of everyone in her program, is passionate about empowering her student-athletes and recognizes that a program is only as good as its people. She is family-oriented and community-minded, both of which will help her generate enthusiasm among our fans and as she works to return our program to Big 12 and national prominence. We are thrilled that she and her husband Scott and kids Eli, Jordi and Hope have joined the OU family, and we are so eager for their arrival in Norman.”

University of Oklahoma President Joseph Harroz Jr. also offered some words on the hire:

“We’re thrilled to have Coach Baranczyk join the Sooner Nation,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “Her enthusiastic coaching style fits perfectly in our culture and her track record of excellence will serve our student-athletes and our program well into the future. The Baranczyks will make a wonderful addition to our OU family.”

An offseason of change for both Oklahoma basketball programs is starting to have both teams take more shape, as they now each have their new head coaches after Porter Moser was named the new leader of the men’s team a week ago.

Oklahoma continues downward slide in bracketology to No. 5 seed going into Big 12 Tournament

Oklahoma continues their downward slide in USA TODAY Sports Bracketology to a No. 5 seed after their four-game losing streak.

Oklahoma has hit their biggest rough patch of the year at essentially the worst time as they concluded the regular season on a four-game losing streak after falling at the hands of Texas on Thursday night. The loss dropped the Sooners all the way down to seventh in the Big 12 entering the conference tournament after being toward the top the bulk of the season.

With the losing streak, Oklahoma’s projected seed in USA TODAY Sports Bracketology for the NCAA Tournament also continues to dip down as they come in as No. 5 seed in the latest projections. Placed in the East Region, they would take on the winner of a play-in game between Drake and Colorado State.

Should they get through the first round, they could potentially see a familiar foe of a few years ago with No. 4 seed Villanova. The top-3 seeds in the region are No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 West Virginia. The interesting aspect there, of course, is that the Sooners already beat the Crimson Tide this season and also knocked off the Mountaineers twice.

So, all things considered this really isn’t the worst draw considering the clumsy way they have closed the season. While Villanova is a daunting No. 4 seed, Michigan still looks just a slight notch below both Gonzaga and Baylor and the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds would both be teams Oklahoma has shown they can beat.

That being said, the Sooners really need to find a way to pick up some wins in Kansas City this week to try and improve their placement as much as possible. Falling down into a No. 6 seed, or worse, is obviously something they need to find a way to avoid to try and make a run to at least the second week of the tournament. Once you get to the Sweet 16, all bets are off. It is about finding the easiest path to that point, which you get by improving your seed as much as possible.

Oklahoma will return to action in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night against Iowa State.

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