Who’s Playing
Murray State Racers @ Drake Bulldogs
Current Records: Murray State 7-7, Drake 12-1
How To Watch
- When: Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 3 p.m. ET
- Where: Knapp Center — Des Moines, Iowa
- TV: ESPN2
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $15.00
What to Know
Drake is 5-0 against Murray State since November of 2019, and they’ll have a chance to extend that success on Sunday. Both will face off in a Missouri Valley battle at 3:00 p.m. ET at Knapp Center. The Bulldogs will be looking to keep their 23-game home win streak dating back to last season alive.
Drake is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering UIC just ended the team’s 12-game winning streak on Wednesday. They opened the new year with a less-than-successful 74-70 loss to the Flames. The Bulldogs didn’t live up to their potential and found themselves falling short of the advantage oddsmakers thought they had coming into the game.
Drake might have lost, but man, Bennett Stirtz was a machine: he dropped a double-double on 30 points and 12 assists. With that strong performance, Stirtz is now averaging an impressive 20.4 points per game. Another player making a difference was Cam Manyawu, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Murray State opened the new year with a less-than-successful 74-68 defeat to Illinois State. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for the Racers in their matchups with the Redbirds: they’ve now lost three in a row.
Murray State’s defeat shouldn’t obscure the performances of Kylen Milton, who earned 18 points along with eight rebounds, and JaCobi Wood, who posted 21 points. Milton’s performance made up for a slower contest against Loyola Chi. last Wednesday.
Having lost for the first time this season, Drake fell to 12-1. As for Murray State, their loss dropped their record down to 7-7.
Looking ahead, Drake is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 9.5 points. They might be worth a quick bet since they’ve covered the spread the last five times they’ve played Murray State.
Drake took their win against Murray State when the teams last played back in February of 2024 by a conclusive 95-72. In that matchup, Drake amassed a halftime lead of 48-29, an impressive feat they’ll look to repeat on Sunday.
Odds
Drake is a big 9.5-point favorite against Murray State, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Bulldogs as a 8.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 127 points.
See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Drake has won all of the games they’ve played against Murray State in the last 6 years.
- Feb 18, 2024 – Drake 95 vs. Murray State 72
- Mar 03, 2023 – Drake 74 vs. Murray State 62
- Feb 07, 2023 – Drake 92 vs. Murray State 68
- Jan 07, 2023 – Drake 82 vs. Murray State 64
- Nov 27, 2019 – Drake 63 vs. Murray State 53
