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AMES, Iowa (AP) — Tremell Murphy scored 30 points and No. 25 Drake rolled past Illinois State 95-60 on Monday night in the Bulldogs’ first game as a ranked team in nearly 13 years.
ShanQuan Hemphill had 18 points for the Bulldogs (17-0, 8-0 Missouri Valley Conference), who improved to 37-4 in the Knapp Center under coach Darian DeVries.
Antonio Reeves led Illinois State (5-12, 2-9) with 20 points.
The Bulldogs had little trouble with the Redbirds after struggling to a 78-76 overtime win in Sunday’s series opener. Reeves had 27 points in the first meeting.
Murphy finished 6 of 10 from 3-point range as Drake easily exceeded its average of 82.2 points per game.
Drake gradually built a double-digit lead and went up 27-12 on consecutive 3-pointers by Murphy.
The Bulldogs hit 6 of 17 attempts from 3-point range in the first half and led 39-24 at the break.
Murphy continued his torrid shooting in the second half, hitting a jumper that extended the margin to 52-32. He followed with a 3-pointer and jumper that gave Drake a 65-38 advantage with 11:42 remaining.
Illinois State finished 6 of 27 from beyond the arc.
BIG PICTURE
Drake began the week one of three undefeated teams nationally and is off to the best start in school history. The Bulldogs are the first team from the Missouri Valley Conference to be ranked since 2017. Their last NCAA Tournament berth was in 2008, the previous season in which they were ranked.
UP NEXT
Illinois State: Hosts Missouri State on Saturday and again on Sunday.
Drake: At Valparaiso on Saturday and again on Sunday.
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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Originally published
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