NCAA Basketball: 2021 ESPN Events Invitational preview and predictions

DETROIT - APRIL 03: A detail of a player from the Connecticut Huskies holding a basketball with the 2009 Final Four logo on it during practice prior to the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Ford Field on April 3, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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Roman Penn Drake Bulldogs (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

Drake Bulldogs

Record: 3-0

We remember the Drake Bulldogs right? The team that beat Kansas State to begin last season was ranked in the top 25 and then was decimated by injuries late in the year but still managed to make the NCAA Tournament. Well, Tank Hemphill and Roman Penn are back from injury and Tremell Murphy is back for his super senior season. They began the year by destroying South Dakota by 49 and beating Richmond by three.

With everyone back healthy, the Bulldogs will once again be a force in the Missouri Valley and based on their first two games against division one competition, the team staples of defense and three-point shooting are alive and well. Drake held South Dakota and Richmond to 36% from the field and just 60 points per game and have knocked down 45% from three early on.

Murphy and Penn lead the Bulldogs in scoring, combining for 27 points per game, but it has been senior D.J. Wilkins and freshman Tucker Devries, the son of head coach Darian DeVries have made 12 of the 33 threes they have taken.

Drake was dangerous when they were completely healthy last season and learning to play without Hemphill and Penn helped them learn how to be successful without their best players and makes them just that much deeper now that everyone is healthy.

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