Drake (4-6) vs. Chicago St. (3-11)
Knapp Center; Des Moines, IA
2:05 PM CST
An afternoon game in Des Moines will send off the Bulldogs to a short Christmas break. They will be trying to rebound from a 67-59 loss to Dartmouth on Tuesday night. Ryan Wedel led Drake with 17. Rayvonte Rice added 15 in the loss for the Bulldogs who shot just 29% from 3.
Chicago St. is also coming off a loss. They played in Ames on Tuesday and lost to Iowa St. 104-63. They were able to put up more points (63) against Iowa St. than Drake did (43). Carl Montgomery poured in 25 for the Cougars.
Evansville (5-4) vs. Norfolk St. (1-8)
Roberts Stadium; Evansville, IN
7:05 PM CST
Evansville can chalk up a win now against Norfolk St. out of the MEAC. At 1-8, the Spartans will be a final tune up for Marty Simmons and the Purple Aces before league place starts. Payback was on the mind of Evansville on Saturday when they hosted Middle Tennessee. They pulled out a 2-point win to even out the series. Evansville lost at Middle Tennessee earlier in the year. Norfolk St.’s only win of the season came at home against Jacksonville St. They have played close games; losing by one to Virginia and by five to St. Joe’s.
Northern Iowa (8-3) vs. New Mexico (10-1)
Orleans Arena; Las Vegas, NV
9:00 PM CST
Las Vegas Classic
UNI held on for a 67-61 win against the Indiana Hoosiers last night. Kwadzo Ahelegbe displayed senior leadership scoring 24 points. Backcourt mate Johnny Moran chipped in 15 for the Panthers who ran out to a 9 point halftime lead. The Hoosiers stormed back to tie it at 59 before UNI ended on an 8-2 run.
They will take on New Mexico who defeated Colorado 89-76. New Mexico already has a win over SIU in the MVC/MWC Challenge and will be looking to add another. Against Colorado, Dairese Gary and Kendall Williams score 18 each. Tonight’s game will be a match-up between New Mexico’s high scoring offense against the slow it down pace of UNI.