# 2019–20 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs were led by second-year head coach Darian DeVries. They played their home games at Knapp Center on campus in Des Moines, Iowa, as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). They finished the season 20–14, 8–10 in MVC play to finish in eighth place. They defeated Illinois State and Northern Iowa to advance to the semifinals of the MVC tournament where they lost to Bradley.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the previous season 24–10 (12–6 MVC) to share of MVC regular season championship with Loyola–Chicago. The shared title was the Bulldogs' first since the 2007–08 season. After falling in the MVC tournament semifinals, they received a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Southern Utah.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Brady Ellingson | 24 | G | 6'4" | 193 | RS Senior | Menomonee Falls, WI | Graduated. |
| Matt Gray | 13 | F | 6'8" | 224 | Freshman | Orange, Australia | Transferred to Salt Lake Community College. |
| Nick McGlynn | 35 | F | 6'8" | 244 | Senior | Stoughton, WI | Graduated. |
| Nick Norton | 20 | G | 5'10" | 166 | RS Senior | Bloomington, IL | Graduated. |
| Luke Vaske | 10 | G | 6'0" | 182 | Freshman | Norwalk, IA | Walk-on; didn't return. |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Brady Ernst | 31 | F | 6'10" | 230 | Redshirt Senior | Clinton, IA | Transferred from Florida Gulf Coast. Was eligible to play immediately since he graduated from FGCU. |
| Jonah Jackson | 20 | G | 6'3" | 210 | Junior | Merrillville, IN | Junior college transferred from John A. Logan College. |

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Joseph Yesufu #49 PG | Bolingbrook, IL | Bolingbrook High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Aug 26, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Nate Ferguson PF | Lemont, IL | Lemont High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A | Aug 26, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Issa Samake PF | Des Moines, Iowa | Grand View Christian School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jun 24, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Okay Djamgouz G | Toronto, Canada | London Basketball Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 23, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 2, 2019* 12:00 pm | | Upper Iowa | W 95–88 | | Knapp Center (2,388) Des Moines, IA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 7, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Kennesaw State | W 86–55 | 1–0 | Knapp Center (2,780) Des Moines, IA |
| Nov 11, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cincinnati | L 59–81 | 1–1 | Fifth Third Arena (10,133) Cincinnati, OH |
| Nov 13, 2019* 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+ | | Kansas City | W 76–58 | 2–1 | Knapp Center (2,415) Des Moines, IA |
| Nov 17, 2019* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Simpson | W 98–53 | 3–1 | Knapp Center (2,528) Des Moines, IA |
| Nov 21, 2019* 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+ | | Lehigh | W 74–58 | 4–1 | Knapp Center (2,333) Des Moines, IA |
| November 25, 2019* 12:45 pm, FloSports | | vs. Miami (Ohio) Gulf Coast Showcase First Round | L 59–67 | 4–2 | Hertz Arena (563) Estero, FL |
| November 26, 2019* 10:00 am, FloSports | | vs. Northeastern Gulf Coast Showcase Consolation 2nd Round | W 59–56 | 5–2 | Hertz Arena (427) Estero, FL |
| November 27, 2019* 12:30 pm, FloSports | | vs. Murray State Gulf Coast Showcase 5th Place Game | W 63–53 | 6–2 | Hertz Arena (653) Estero, FL |
| Dec 3, 2019* 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+ | | Milwaukee | W 56–53 | 7–2 | Knapp Center (2,373) Des Moines, IA |
| Dec 7, 2019* 5:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+ | | Southeast Missouri State | W 78–73 | 8–2 | Knapp Center (2,723) Des Moines, IA |
| Dec 14, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at No. 14 Dayton | L 47–78 | 8–3 | UD Arena (13,407) Dayton, OH |
| Dec 17, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Mount Marty | W 92–74 | 9–3 | Knapp Center (2,468) Des Moines, IA |
| Dec 21, 2019* 1:00 pm, MWN | | at Air Force | W 85–80 | 10–3 | Clune Arena (1,791) Colorado Springs, CO |
| MVC regular season ||||||
| Dec 31, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Bradley | L 72–80 | 10–4 (0–1) | Carver Arena (5,416) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 4, 2020 5:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+ | | Indiana State | W 80–76 | 11–4 (1–1) | Knapp Center (3,490) Des Moines, IA |
| Jan 7, 2020 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Loyola–Chicago | W 65–62 | 12–4 (2–1) | Knapp Center (3,164) Des Moines, IA |
| Jan 11, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | L 61–66 | 12–5 (2–2) | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,190) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 16, 2020 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+ | | Illinois State | W 84–74 | 13–5 (3–2) | Knapp Center (2,641) Des Moines, IA |
| Jan 19, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | L 49–66 | 13–6 (3–3) | SIU Arena (4,337) Carbondale, IL |
| Jan 22, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Evansville | W 73–50 | 14–6 (4–3) | Ford Center (4,913) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 26, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Missouri State | W 71–69 | 15–6 (5–3) | Knapp Center (3,593) Des Moines, IA |
| Jan 29, 2020 6:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+ | | at Indiana State | L 56–58 | 15–7 (5–4) | Hulman Center (3,414) Terre Haute, IN |
| Feb 1, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | L 72–79 | 15–8 (5–5) | Knapp Center (4,053) Des Moines, IA |
| Feb 5, 2020 8:00 pm, FSMIW/NBCS | | Bradley | W 73–60 | 16–8 (6–5) | Knapp Center (3,328) Des Moines, IA |
| Feb 8, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | L 73–83 | 16–9 (6–6) | McLeod Center (6,497) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Feb 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | L 62–97 | 16–10 (6–7) | JQH Arena (3,185) Springfield, MO |
| Feb 16, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Evansville | W 85–80 | 17–10 (7–7) | Knapp Center (4,067) Des Moines, IA |
| Feb 19, 2020 7:00 pm, MC22/ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 77–75 $^{OT}$ | 18–10 (8–7) | Knapp Center (3,783) Des Moines, IA |
| Feb 22, 2020 3:30 pm, FSMW/NBCSC | | at Illinois State | L 53–57 | 18–11 (8–8) | Redbird Arena (5,063) Normal, IL |
| Feb 25, 2020 7:00 pm, NBCSC | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 60–64 | 18–12 (8–9) | Gentile Arena (3,358) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 29, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Northern Iowa | L 43–70 | 18–13 (8–10) | Knapp Center (7,152) Des Moines, IA |
| MVC tournament ||||||
| March 5, 2020 6:05 pm, FSMW/NBCSC | (8) | vs. (9) Illinois State First round | W 75–65 | 19–13 | Enterprise Center (5,212) St. Louis, MO |
| March 6, 2020 12:05 pm, FSMW/NBCSC | (8) | vs. (1) Northern Iowa Quarterfinals | W 77–56 | 20–13 | Enterprise Center (7,399) St. Louis, MO |
| March 7, 2020 2:35 pm, CBSSN | (8) | vs. (4) Bradley Semifinals | L 66–76 | 20–14 | Enterprise Center (8,145) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source