DES MOINES, Iowa -- — Bennett Stirtz's 16 points helped Drake defeat Evansville 63-40 on Saturday night.

Stirtz had seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals for the Bulldogs (14-2, 4-2 Missouri Valley Conference). Daniel Abreu scored 12 points while shooting 4 for 10 (2 for 8 from 3-point range) and 2 of 3 from the free-throw line. Tavion Banks shot 2 of 9 from the field and 7 for 8 from the line to finish with 11 points.

Tayshawn Comer finished with 11 points for the Purple Aces (6-11, 3-3). Evansville also got 10 points from Cameron Haffner.

Drake took the lead with 5:07 left in the first half and never looked back. The score was 25-20 at halftime, with Stirtz racking up seven points. Drake extended its lead to 44-21 during the second half, fueled by a 19-1 scoring run. Stirtz scored a team-high nine points in the second half as their team closed out the win.

------

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.