Halftime Report

Drake is on the road but looking no worse for wear. They have jumped out to a quick 35-25 lead against Missouri State.

Drake entered the matchup having won five straight and they're just one half away from another. Will they make it six, or will Missouri State step up and spoil it? We'll know soon.

Who's Playing

Drake Bulldogs @ Missouri State Bears

Current Records: Drake 17-2, Missouri State 7-13

How To Watch

What to Know

Missouri State will be in front of their home fans on Saturday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They and the Drake Bulldogs will face off in a Missouri Valley battle at 4:00 p.m. ET at Great Southern Bank Arena. The Bears have a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with eight straight defeats, while the Bulldogs will come in with five straight victories.

Last Tuesday, Missouri State couldn't handle N. Iowa and fell 79-68.

Missouri State's loss came about despite a quality game from Zaxton King, who went 6 for 9 en route to 17 points plus three steals. The dominant performance also gave King a new career-high in threes (five).

Missouri State struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. Sadly, that's becoming something of a trend for them; they were averaging 12.3 offensive rebounds per game earlier this season, but in their last five matchups they've fallen to only 7.4 per game.

Meanwhile, Drake was able to grind out a solid win over Valparaiso on Wednesday, taking the game 81-71.

Among those leading the charge was Bennett Stirtz, who almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Mitch Mascari, who went 7 for 12 en route to 21 points.

Missouri State's defeat dropped their record down to 7-13. As for Drake, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-2.

Missouri State came out on top in a nail-biter against Drake in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, sneaking past 83-80. Will Missouri State repeat their success, or does Drake have a better game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.

Odds

Drake is a big 8.5-point favorite against Missouri State, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Bulldogs as a 7.5-point favorite.


The oddsmakers are predicting a defensive showdown and set the over/under low at 119.5 points.

See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine's advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History

Missouri State and Drake both have 5 wins in their last 10 games.

  • Jan 24, 2024 - Missouri State 83 vs. Drake 80
  • Dec 02, 2023 - Drake 74 vs. Missouri State 57
  • Jan 18, 2023 - Missouri State 65 vs. Drake 62
  • Jan 01, 2023 - Missouri State 52 vs. Drake 49
  • Mar 05, 2022 - Drake 79 vs. Missouri State 78
  • Feb 09, 2022 - Missouri State 66 vs. Drake 62
  • Jan 02, 2022 - Missouri State 61 vs. Drake 56
  • Mar 06, 2021 - Drake 71 vs. Missouri State 69
  • Jan 27, 2021 - Drake 78 vs. Missouri State 73
  • Jan 26, 2021 - Drake 68 vs. Missouri State 61