Illinois State faces Drake following Reeves' 23-point showing

Drake Bulldogs (14-6, 5-2 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (10-10, 3-4 MVC)

Normal, Illinois; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST

LINE: Illinois State -3.5; over/under is 144.5

BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State hosts the Drake Bulldogs after Antonio Reeves scored 23 points in Illinois State's 56-53 loss to the Evansville Purple Aces.

The Redbirds are 9-2 on their home court. Illinois State is seventh in the MVC with 24.1 defensive rebounds per game led by Sy Chatman averaging 4.0.

The Bulldogs are 5-2 in MVC play. Drake is fourth in the MVC shooting 36.5% from downtown. Shanquan Hemphill leads the Bulldogs shooting 66.7% from 3-point range.

The teams square off for the 10th time this season in MVC play. The Bulldogs won the last meeting 86-75 on Jan. 13. Roman Penn scored 16 points to help lead the Bulldogs to the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Mark Freeman is averaging 9.2 points and 3.5 assists for the Redbirds. Reeves is averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games for Illinois State.

Tucker DeVries is shooting 38.3% and averaging 13.3 points for the Bulldogs. Garrett Sturtz is averaging 8.1 points over the last 10 games for Drake.

LAST 10 GAMES: Redbirds: 5-5, averaging 76.6 points, 31.8 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.0 points per game.

Bulldogs: 8-2, averaging 75.2 points, 32.3 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 7.9 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.5 points.

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