Indiana State Sycamores vs. Drake Bulldogs Prediction & Game Preview - 2/21/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: The Knapp Center, Des Moines, IA

Where to watch: ESPN+

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Caesars: Check back later

Indiana State: 11-16 (4-11 MVC)

Drake: 19-9 (10-5 MVC)

Before I sat down to write this, I wanted to go look back at the history of the Indiana State Sycamores and I wanted to see where they've been as far as a program since Larry Bird left in the 80s.

To my surprise and at the same time not surprised, Indiana State has only made the NCAA tournament three times since Byrd finished playing his college ball at Indiana State in 1980. Just think about that for a second. 

Larry Bird, who basically lifted that program up from obscurity and did everything he could to make it a respectable program, got the sycamores to the national championship game against Magic Johnson and Michigan State, and since that time that program has failed miserably to build something of relevance in Bird’s legend.

So you put all of that together and you see Indiana State right now in its current form is tied for second to last place in the Missouri Valley Conference. And I'm not really sure how to assess this team other than it's the same song and dance for as many years as it's been so far, and they only have three tournament appearances to show for it.

The current team just is not great right now. Indiana State has lost three of five and is coming off a four point loss on Saturday against southern Illinois. Kailex Stephens led the way with 21 points, and Cooper Neese had 19 points, but that was all the help that Indiana State could get.

Let's be clear. Larry bird's clone is not walking through that door. This is a program that's been dormant for so long and has not found any possible way to get better and to carry on the legacy that Larry Bird created, but perhaps we are 40 years too late to that juncture and I don't think it's worth discovering if the effort is not going to be there too bring this program back from the depths of hell.

While Indiana State is at the bottom of obscurity with no help on the way, the Drake Bulldogs appear to be right in the mix for a potential spot in the NCAA tournament.

A lot of things would need to go right for Drake to going to run and make the tournament considering the top tier talent of Missouri State, Loyola, and Northern Iowa are sitting atop the conference as we speak. But Drake has been able to keep things interesting, sitting at the cusp of 4th place in the conference with a few games to go, and hopefully for their sake, the Bulldogs have been able to string a few wins together that may carry some momentum into the conference tournament.

Drake is coming off, actually, one of their bigger wins of the season by defeating the aforementioned Loyola team by seven points on the road in Chicago. Tucker DeVries, Drake's leading scorer this season, finished with 24 points on seven of 12 shooting and also made eight of 11 from the free-throw line. Throw in a solid 15 points from Garrett Sturtz and the 56% shooting performance from the entire team, and you can see where the talent is and why they should not be taken lightly heading into conference tournament time.

The one thing I'm curious about the Missouri Valley Conference is we know the teams that are at the top of the forefront, right? But is there going to be a team coming from the rear that's going to make things interesting to close out this season?

And the more I think about it, Drake just might be that team. It's a team that averages close to 75 points per game while giving up only 67. They’re a very solid rebounding team and have shown in numerous instances that there is a possibility to win games with their lockdown defense.

I think we're seeing in this run of Missouri Valley Conference games that really there should be no reason to overlook anything when it pertains to the good teams against the bad teams. And in this case, unless Larry bird's ghost is walking through that door, I don't think we should be even considering Indiana State against these top-tier teams in the conference. Drake isn't the best, but it is one of the more better teams as a mid-major, and I see absolutely no reason why they can't win on Monday in a resounding fashion. Drake by 15

Indiana State is 19-22 ATS as an underdog.

The over is 52-30 when Indiana State is an underdog of 10 points or more.

The over is 80-51 when Drake is a home favorite or pick.

PG: Julian Larry

SG: Cooper Neese

SF: Cameron Henry

PF: Kailex Stephens

C: Simon Wilbar

PG: Roman Penn

SG: D.J. Wilkins

SF: Garrett Sturtz

PF: Tucker DeVries

C: Tremell Murphy

Points: Cooper Neese -- 16.4

Rebounds: Cameron Henry -- 6.0

Assists: Xavier Bledson -- 4.0

Points: Tucker DeVries -- 14.1

Rebounds: Garrett Sturtz -- 7.5

Assists: Roman Penn -- 3.6