DES MOINES — Nick Norton led the way with 17 points as Drake had five players in double figures as the Bulldogs opened the season with a 98-52 thumping of Division III Buena Vista on Thursday night.

Norton was almost perfect on the night, hitting 3 of 4 from deep while making 7 of 8 field-goal attempts. He also grabbed five rebounds while dishing out five assists. Liam Robbins added 16 points with six rebounds, Noah Thomas contributed 15 points, Tremell Murphy chipped in 14 with eight rebounds and Anthony Murphy had 12 points with six boards.

Drake opened the game on a 14-0 run and took a 49-27 lead into the break. The Bulldogs pushed that to 66-37 in the second half and coasted to the win.

Drake scored 54 points in the paint while limiting Buena Vista to just 10 and won the rebound battle 52-33.

Garrett Sittner led Buena Vista with 12 points. Dominic Sesma contributed 11.

DRAKE 98, BUENA VISTA 52

At Des Moines

BUENA VISTA (0-1) — Lind 0-3 0-0 0, Sesma 3-4 4-5 11, Jeffries 2-7 4-5 9, Hawkins 0-6 1-2 1, Winkelman 0-3 0-0 0, Schmitt 2-4 2-2 7, Pharis 1-6 0-0 2, Rogers 0-1 0-0 0, Vogelei 0-5 0-0 0, Rock 0-0 2-2 2, Sittner 3-9 3-5 12, D.Gary 1-3 0-0 2, Sonius 1-4 0-0 3, McNeal 0-1 0-0 0, Demers 1-7 0-0 3. TOTALS 14-63 16-21 52.

DRAKE (1-0) — T.Murphy 6-12 2-2 14, McGlynn 2-6 2-4 6, Wilkins 2-10 0-0 6, Ellingson 3-5 0-0 7, Norton 7-8 0-0 17, Robbins 7-10 1-2 16, Pilipovic 1-5 0-0 3, Thomas 5-7 3-4 15, A.Murphy 5-6 2-3 12, Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Gholson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 39-70 10-15 98.

Halftime–Drake 49-27. 3-Point Goals–BVU 8-30 (Sittner 3-8, Schmitt 1-1, Sesma 1-2, Jeffries 1-3, Demers 1-3, Sonius 1-3, Pharis 0-1, McNeal 0-1, Lind 0-2, Vogelei 0-3, Winkelman 0-3), Drake 10-25 (Norton 3-4, Thomas 2-3, Wilkins 2-7, Robbins 1-1, Ellingson 1-3, Pilipovic 1-5, A.Murphy 0-1, T.Murphy 0-1). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–BVU 29 (Hawkins 6), Drake 50 (McGlynn 10). Assists–BVU 10 (Vogelei 2), Drake 16 (Norton 5). Total Fouls–BVU 12, Drake 18. A–3,561.