Roman Penn, Bulldogs bench help lead Drake basketball's resurgence to top of MVC

Drake men’s basketball extended its win streak to eight games with a win over Northern Iowa on Wednesday.

Thanks to that streak, the Bulldogs (22-6, 13-4 MVC) moved from the middle of the pack in the Missouri Valley Conference and are tied with Bradley atop the standings. Drake beat Bradley earlier this season, and they face off again in the regular season finale.

Some of the highlights during that eight-game stretch include completing the regular season sweep of UNI and handing Southern Illinois – one of the conference’s top teams – a 23-point loss.

More:Drake men's basketball holds off Northern Iowa for regular-season sweep

Some of those games came down to the wire, but the Bulldogs have managed to continuously find ways to win. But none of it is by accident; all the pieces have come together at the right time.

Here's how Drake basketball has inched its way back to the top of the MVC standings.

It’s Roman’s world, Drake’s just living in it

Even with all his success, Roman Penn has been unlucky in his college basketball career. His time at Siena was cut short due to an injury and then he sat out his first season at Drake because of transfer rules.

Penn started all 34 games in his second year as a Bulldog, but injured his foot again 24 games into the 2020-21 season. He was limited by the same injury again last season.

In the offseason, the foot still hampered him and he underwent surgery. He missed one game, came off the bench for two and has started the 25 since. During the first half of the season – when Penn was still working through the rehabilitation process – his play was best described as inconsistent.

“He’s had three foot surgeries since he’s been here,” said coach Darian DeVries. “You watch our games back at Thanksgiving and you watch how he was running, he wasn’t even close to 100% yet.”

More:Drake basketball guard Roman Penn gets assists on the court and in the shopping cart

Penn scored 32 points in the conference opener against Indiana State. One game later, he managed only 2 points against UIC, one of the worst teams in the conference. But that slump didn’t last long.

The fifth-year graduate student has scored double-digits in each of the last eight games. Penn averaged 18 points per game in that span, and scored over 20 against UNI and Southern Illinois. He also added an average five rebounds in each of those matchups.

There are a lot of reasons why Drake has put together the win streak it has recently, but Penn’s contribution cannot be understated.

“You’re starting to see what Roman Penn looks like when he’s got both feet that feel good,” DeVries said. “He’s been a huge difference during this range.”

Boost from the bench

Penn might be in the middle of a hot streak, but he can’t carry the Bulldogs on his own.

Drake’s bench has been incredibly consistent all season, but especially as of late. It adds an element of depth that some teams in the MVC don’t have, and gives DeVries confidence when resting his starters.

More:Tucker DeVries scores 1,000th career point as Drake basketball eases past Southern Illinois

The Bulldogs bench has scored 10 or more points in all but one of Drake’s last eight games, and DeVries’ program is undefeated this season when the bench scores double digits. Conor Enright is the main player who steals the show off the bench, but he isn’t alone in that success.

Four different players have been the top scorer off the bench in this stretch. Okay Djamgouz put up 11 points against Evansville. Nate Ferguson had 10 versus Belmont. Sardaar Calhoun added 11 when Southern Illinois came to the Knapp Center, and Enright capped his season-long success with a 14-point performance against UNI on Wednesday.

Success from beyond the arc

A 3-point percentage of 35 or above is considered good in college basketball.

So, with sharpshooters like D.J. Wilkins and Tucker DeVries, it isn’t a surprise that Drake’s 37.6% is one of the best in the conference this season. But the Bulldogs have performed even better than that over the last eight games.

Drake made over 50% of its 3-point attempts against Evansville, Murray State and Southern Illinois. The Bulldogs went 7-of-29 against UNI on Feb. 1, but that is an anomaly. They bounced back, shooting 47.8% from beyond the arc against UNI on Wednesday, and have made over 40% of their 3-pointers against Indiana State, Belmont and Valparaiso.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.