Anthony Murphy

DES MOINES — Anthony Murphy posted career highs scoring 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds and Drake beat Evansville 85-80 on Sunday.

Evansville led 40-34 at halftime before Drake (17-10, 7-7 Missouri Valley Conference) started the second half with a 13-0 run and never trailed again. Sam Cunliffe’s 3-pointer with a minute to go brought the Purple Aces (9-18, 0-14) within 76-72 but the Bulldogs made all eight of their foul shots in the last 46 seconds.

“It’s great to get back on the winning track and this was certainly a hard-fought win,” said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. “Evansville shot the ball well again tonight, and it was a good win for us to get that battle back there in the second half, and some guys stepped up there in the second half and made some plays that help us secure it.”

Roman Penn scored 19, Liam Robbins 15 and Garrett Sturtz 11 for Drake, which ended a two-game losing streak. The Bulldogs got to the free-throw line a season-high 42 times, making 32 of them.

“It was part of the game plan was to get it inside a lot and then we wanted to get downhill ourselves in transition and the half-court, trying to get the free-throw line,” DeVries said. “Overall, I thought our mentality and mindset was really good throughout the game in terms of just playing from the paint.”

Cunliffe led Evansville with 25 points, Evan Kuhlman 17 and K.J. Riley 10. Evansville has lost 28 of its last 33 conference games. Their 15-game losing streak includes a 65-60 loss against Illinois State in the first round of the MVC tournament last year.

Drake 85, Evansville 80

At Des Moines

EVANSVILLE (9-18) — Hall 1-7 2-2 4, Kuhlman 6-12 0-0 17, Cunliffe 9-16 4-4 25, Newton 4-4 1-1 11, Riley 2-6 6-7 10, Frederking 3-3 0-0 8, Givance 1-5 0-0 2, Labinowicz 1-3 0-0 3. TOTALS 27-56 13-14 80.

DRAKE (17-10) — Robbins 5-12 5-8 15, Jackson 1-1 0-0 3, A.Murphy 5-7 10-13 20, Penn 6-10 7-8 19, Wilkins 2-6 4-4 8, Sturtz 3-3 5-7 11, Thomas 3-5 1-2 9, Pilipovic 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 25-45 32-42 85.

Halftime–Evansville 40-34. 3-Point Goals–Evansville 13-27 (Kuhlman 5-9, Cunliffe 3-6, Frederking 2-2, Newton 2-2, Labinowicz 1-1, Givance 0-1, Riley 0-1, Hall 0-5), Drake 3-12 (Thomas 2-3, Jackson 1-1, A.Murphy 0-1, Penn 0-1, Pilipovic 0-1, Robbins 0-1, Wilkins 0-4). Fouled Out–Kuhlman, Cunliffe. Rebounds–Evansville 17 (Cunliffe 6), Drake 33 (A.Murphy 13). Assists–Evansville 16 (Riley 7), Drake 12 (Penn 5). Total Fouls–Evansville 25, Drake 16. A–4,067 (7,152).