# 1970–71 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 1970–71 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team was led by 13th-year head coach Maury John and played their home games at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa. The Bulldogs were 9–5 in Missouri Valley Conference play, finishing in a 3-way tie for the league title.
Drake received a bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Notre Dame in the regional semifinal. The Bulldogs would fall one game short of the Final Four in back-to-back seasons, losing to Kansas in the regional final, 73–71.
This season marked the end of a streak – the only time in program history the Bulldogs reached the NCAA tournament in three consecutive seasons (reaching the Elite Eight all three times) – and the end of an era, as head coach Maury John left to become head coach at Iowa State.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs reached the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, advancing to the Elite Eight a season after making the program's only Final Four appearance in 1969. Drake completed the season with a 22–7 record (14–2 Missouri Valley) and were ranked number 9 in the final AP poll.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1970* | No. 10 | Wisconsin-Platteville | W 107–73 | 1–0 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Dec 1, 1970* | No. 10 | Cal State Fullerton | W 101–57 | 2–0 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Dec 8, 1970* | No. 7 | at Iowa State Iowa Big Four | W 87–63 | 3–0 | Iowa State Armory Ames, Iowa |
| Dec 12, 1970* | No. 7 | Iowa Iowa Big Four | W 72–70 | 4–0 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Dec 18, 1970* | No. 9 | vs. Texas–Arlington Texas Classic | W 102–83 | 5–0 | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, Texas |
| Dec 19, 1970* | No. 9 | at TCU Texas Classic | W 79–78 | 6–0 | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, Texas |
| Dec 22, 1970* | No. 9 | Minnesota | W 83–66 | 7–0 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Dec 26, 1970* | No. 9 | at Canisius Queen City Classic | W 87–74 | 8–0 | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, New York |
| Dec 28, 1970* | No. 7 | vs. Niagara Queen City Classic | L 77–87 | 8–1 | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, New York |
| Jan 2, 1971* | No. 7 | at Cincinnati | L 59–60 | 8–2 | Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| Jan 7, 1971 | No. 16 | at Wichita State | W 78–74 | 9–2 (1–0) | Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas |
| Jan 9, 1971* | No. 16 | Tulsa | L 60–66 | 9–3 (1–1) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Jan 13, 1971 | | at Bradley | L 85–88 | 9–4 (1–2) | Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois |
| Jan 20, 1971* | | UMKC | W 130–73 | 10–4 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Jan 23, 1971 | | Louisville | W 81–78 | 11–4 (2–2) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Jan 28, 1971 | | North Texas | W 90–66 | 12–4 (3–2) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Jan 30, 1971* | | Memphis State | W 93–70 | 13–4 (4–2) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Feb 2, 1971* | | DePaul | W 93–80 | 14–4 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Feb 4, 1971 | | at Memphis State | L 72–73 | 14–5 (4–3) | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee |
| Feb 11, 1971 | | Bradley | W 113–78 | 15–5 (5–3) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Feb 13, 1971 | | at Saint Louis | L 62–64 | 15–6 (5–4) | St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 17, 1971 | | at No. 19 Louisville | L 52–94 | 15–7 (5–5) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 20, 1971 | | at Tulsa | W 87–84 | 16–7 (6–5) | Expo Square Pavilion Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Feb 23, 1971 | | Wichita State | W 83–76 | 17–7 (7–5) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Feb 27, 1971 | | Saint Louis | W 89–85 | 18–7 (8–5) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Mar 2, 1971 | | at North Texas | W 65–60 | 19–7 (9–5) | North Texas Men's Gym Denton, Texas |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 18, 1971* | No. 18 | vs. No. 12 Notre Dame Midwest Regional Semifinal | W 79–72 $^{OT}$ | 21–7 | Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas |
| Mar 20, 1971* | No. 18 | vs. No. 4 Kansas Midwest Regional Final | L 71–73 | 21–8 | Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time. ||||||