TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State used a furious second half rally to draw within a point four different times against visiting Drake, but the Bulldogs had just enough of an answer to take down the Sycamores, 75-72 in front of 3,249 fans inside Hulman Center.

The Sycamores fell to 7-9, 2-2 MVC while Drake improved to 10-7 and remained unbeaten in MVC play with a 4-0 record. 

Brenton Scott led the way with 25 points as he hit 4-of-8 from 3-point range and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He added a career-high seven steals with four assists and three rebounds. Brandon Murphy tallied a new career-high with 16 points and added eight rebounds while Jordan Barnes hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 with six assists, three rebounds and one steal.




ISU ended the game with a 42.6 shooting percentage (26-of-61) and connected on 10 3-pointers. The Sycamores held a 33-30 edge on the glass as well as a 12-6 margin on second chance points, coming down with 13 offensive rebounds, led by five from Murphy.

Scott continued his climb up the ISU scoring charts as he now has 1,548 career points and is only seven behind Eddie Bird for No. 7 on the all-time list. He also now has 241 career 3-pointers made, which is second best in the history of the program.

Drake hit over 50 percent of their shots in the game (26-of-49 for 53.1 percent) and were 11-of-20 after halftime, despite only hitting three of their first 10 out of the break which allowed ISU to quickly claw back into the game.

The Sycamores would score the first seven points of the second half as Scott buried a 3-pointer after a defensive stop as Qiydar Davis and Murphy added jumpers to get within 39-36. A lay-up on a baseline drive by Scott with 17:01 remaining got ISU within 41-40, but the Bulldogs scored the next six to take a 47-40 lead. Davis stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer before De'Antea Murray hit a pair of charity tosses with 12:27 on the clock to establish a six-point advantage. Scott connected on a 3-pointer and Murphy dunked inside off the feed from Scott to make it a 49-48 Drake lead with 10:55 to go.

The Bulldogs once again scored the game's next six points before Scott stemmed the tide with two free throws at the 8:38 mark to make it 55-50. Ore Arogundade hit two charity tosses with 6:21 remaining for the 60-56 lead, but Murphy converted a conventional 3-point play with 6:01 to go to once again get ISU within a point at 60-59. Reed Timmer buried a 3-pointer and then a lay-up to establish a 65-59 Bulldogs lead as the clock ticked under the five minute mark, but Scott had the answer with a jumper in the paint to trim the lad down to 65-61. 

The two teams traded 3-pointers as Barnes hit a trey with 2:12 remaining to get ISU within 70-67. With Drake up four points and 51 seconds to go, Murphy was fouled going back up to the basket on an offensive rebound and the foul was ruled intentional. Murphy hit 1-of-2 to trim the lead down to three points, but that would be all the Sycamores would get out of that exchange. C.J. Rivers and Casey Schlatter only hit 1-of-4 free throws on two consecutive possessions to make it 73-69 before Barnes buried a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining to get ISU within 73-72. Timmer was fouled with 1.4 seconds remaining and hit them both, and Barnes had a look from mid court as time expired which fell just short and Drake took the 75-72 victory.

Drake's largest lead of the game came at the 2:13 mark of the first half when McMurray connected on a lay-up for the 37-23 advantage. Barnes drained a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left and then a Barnes steal and transition trey with 27 seconds to go make it 37-29. McGlynn would score on a putback as the first half horn expired to send the Bulldogs into the locker room with a 39-29 cushion.

McMurray led the way for Drake with 25 points.

ISU remains at home on Wednesday, January 10 when they host Northern Iowa in a key Missouri Valley Conference matchup. The game tips-off at 7 pm (ET) from Hulman Center.