Drake Basketball’s Perfect Start Under Ben McCollum

Drake dominates with lock-down defense and sharp shooting, led by Stirtz, Mascari, and Abreu. Could this be their path to the NCAA Tournament?

On Tuesday evening, the Drake Bulldogs traveled to Kansas City to take on Kansas State at the T-Mobile Center. Coming into the game, the Bulldogs were 9-0 and were already creating a buzz around college basketball thanks to star players Bennett Stirtz and Mitch Mascari. The game couldn’t have started any better.

The Bulldogs opened up on an 11-0 run and held the Wildcats to just single digit points until the 6:42 mark when it was 26-9. Kansas State clawed their way back in and cut the lead to just nine by halftime. The second half, they flipped the script and sent the game to overtime, which become prime time TV for any viewers, ending on this incredible sequence:

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The Drake Bulldogs are now 10-0 on the season and in cruise control to remain undefeated until they reach conference season on December 29th at home against a tough Belmont squad. They play Green Bay on December 21st and well…we don’t need to get into why that game shouldn’t be a worry for the Bulldogs.

How is this team doing it? If you have followed us for a while, we published a deep dive into this team during the offseason (linked below) and praised the impending success that head coach Ben McCullom would most likely bring to the program. Admittedly, the largest question at the time was, how would their four transfers from DII Northwest Missouri State perform at the highest level after following their coach to the next level? Well, we have out answer. They are doing pretty well I would say.

Bennett Stirtz is averaging 18.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.4 steals on 49.2% shooting and 31.7% from 3pt. Mitch Mascari is averaging 13.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, one steal on 48.8% shooting and a remarkable 52.2% (36-69) from deep. Who on earth shoots better from 3pt range than overall? Daniel Abreu is averaging 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds on 47.1% shooting and 37.3% from deep.

Three DII players leading a team that’s 10-0 with wins over Miami, Kansas State, and a 10-1 Vanderbilt team. It’s been a fun journey to watch as Coach McCullom starts off his Division I career with the spotlight slowing starting to shine on Des Moines. For many programs, this should’ve been a rebuilding year following the departure of Darian DeVries. However, McCullom and the Bulldogs are building something special, built on the back of the fundamentals of basketball. Let’s look at the behind the scenes stats, here’s where the Bulldogs rank:

• 71st in KenPom

  • 118th in Offensive Efficiency

  • 46th in Defensive Efficiency

• 28th in Effective Field Goal Percentage

• 21st in Field Goal Percentage

• 72nd in Opponent Field Goal Percentage

• 17th in Rebound Margin

  • 33.6 Rebounds

  • 24.1 Opponent Rebounds

    • 3rd in Opponent Offensive Rebounds

• 3rd in Scoring Defense

  • 56.7 Opponent Points per Game

• 24th in Scoring Margin

• 17th in 3pt Defense

• 47th in Turnovers Forced per Game

What’s the old saying? Defense wins championships? The Drake Bulldogs are notably a lock down defense that isn’t going to post highlight blocks or lead the country in steals, but it’s the fundamentals driven by Coach McCollum and his staff. Simple concepts, such as, crashing boards, running back to cover the floor on missed shots, etc.

For comparison, the Bulldogs rank 3rd in scoring defense behind just Tennessee and Houston. Closely behind are notable teams like UCLA, Oregon State, Liberty, North Texas, Duke, and VCU. Ranking behind the No. 1 and No. 15 teams in the country is an impressive stat. However, they use this lock down defense to turn it into offense.

The Bulldogs might be one of the highest basketball IQ teams I have seen in quite a while. They do not take bad shots, which is why they rank 21st in shooting percentage in the country at a remarkable 50%, tied with UConn and Georgia. Looking at the box scores, you can see why. Mitch Mascari is shooting over 50% from 3pt, while Stirtz, Mascari, Abreu, Cam Manyawu, and Tavion Banks are all shooting 46% or better from the floor. You won’t see this team forcing shots and they aren’t a turnover machine either, averaging just 13.2 a game so far.

It’s simple, the Drake Bulldogs will take advantage of a team’s mistakes and capitalize on both the offensive and defensive ends. Take a bad shot? Drake will lock down the paint to grab the board (the Bulldogs allow less than six offensive rebounds per game). Your team can’t get back on defense? The Bulldogs will expose an open lane for an easy basketball.

In the modern era of basketball, these simple concepts can sometimes be overlooked by the flashiness of players skills. There is a reason that McCollum won four Division II National Championships, including a perfect 38-0 season. His mindset is, play lock down defense, then turn it into offense. A simple formula that could bring the first year Division I head coach to his first NCAA Tournament at the Division I level come March.