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Sturtz’s double-double drives Drake past K-State

Garrett Sturtz

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Garrett Sturtz scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Drake men’s basketball team to an 80-70 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday in a season opener at the Little Apple Classic.

Sturtz made all three of his field-goal attempts and 9 of 10 free throws, including four in the final 1:19 when the Bulldogs made 10 straight from the line to pull away.

“He was tremendous,” Drake coach Darian DeVries said of Sturtz. “You’re talking about a guy who’s 6-foot-3 grabbing rebounds over guys that are 6-10, 6-11. He is just so competitive and just makes winning plays.”

Tremell Murphy scored 12 points with seven rebounds and Shanquan Hemphill added 10 points, including a dunk to put Drake ahead for good with 7:24 remaining.

Drake led 38-36 at halftime but the Wildcats started the second half on an 11-2 run, including six points from DaJuan Gordon, to lead 47-40 before Drake rallied.

“What I was most excited about was when we got hit with the run in the second half, there were times last year when we got hit with those runs, we tended to get down on ourselves a little bit,” DeVries said. “Our guys came out of a timeout when we were down six and they came right back at them. I thought that was huge for us from a confidence standpoint and also I think our team has grown up.”

Senior Mike McGuirl scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting and Gordon, a sophomore, tied his personal best with 15 points for the Wildcats, who have nine newcomers, including five freshmen on their roster.

Though the schools are relatively close at 318 miles apart, the programs haven’t faced each other since 1956. Kansas State came in having won 98 of its last 104 non-conference home games.

Drake continues play in the Little Apple Classic on Friday, facing South Dakota at 1 p.m.

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