The Bulldogs remained winless in the Missouri Valley Conference this season after a rough second half at Illinois State.
Drake managed to shrink a 10-point deficit down to three in the closing minutes of the first half and the start of the second, but that was as close the score would get. The Redbirds responded with 17 unanswered points in under five minutes.
Drake again closed the gap to within three possessions at the 9:19 mark behind another strong performance from sophomore guard Reed Timmer (19 points, four assists, four rebounds). Still, that wouldn’t be enough as the Illinois State offense lit up the scoreboard on the way to a 64-76 victory.