Jump to content

1970–71 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1970–71 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball
Missouri Valley Conference Champions
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16
APNo. 18
Record21–8 (9–5 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Dan Callahan
  • Gus Guydon
Home arenaVeterans Memorial Auditorium
Seasons
1971–72 →
1970–71 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 18 Drake 9 5   .643 21 8   .724
Louisville 9 5   .643 20 9   .690
Saint Louis 9 5   .643 17 12   .586
Memphis State 8 6   .571 18 8   .692
Tulsa 8 6   .571 17 9   .654
Bradley 6 8   .429 13 12   .520
North Texas State 4 10   .286 10 15   .400
Wichita State 3 11   .214 10 16   .385
West Texas State   19 7   .731
New Mexico State   19 8   .704
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1970–71 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team was led by 13th-year head coach Maury John and played their home games at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa. The Bulldogs were 9–5 in Missouri Valley Conference play, finishing in a 3-way tie for the league title.

Drake received a bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Notre Dame in the regional semifinal. The Bulldogs would fall one game short of the Final Four in back-to-back seasons, losing to Kansas in the regional final, 73–71.[2]

This season marked the end of a streak – the only time in program history the Bulldogs reached the NCAA tournament in three consecutive seasons (reaching the Elite Eight all three times) – and the end of an era, as head coach Maury John left to become head coach at Iowa State.

Previous season

[edit]

The Bulldogs reached the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, advancing to the Elite Eight a season after making the program's only Final Four appearance in 1969. Drake completed the season with a 22–7 record (14–2 Missouri Valley) and were ranked number 9 in the final AP poll.

Roster

[edit]
1970–71 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F 5 Dale Gordon 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Creston, Iowa
C 23 Tom Bush 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Chicago, Illinois
G/F 42 Jeff Halliburton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Rockville Centre, New York
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

[3]

Schedule and results

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 1, 1970*
No. 10 Wisconsin-Platteville W 107–73  1–0
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 1, 1970*
No. 10 Cal State Fullerton W 101–57  2–0
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 8, 1970*
No. 7 at Iowa State
Iowa Big Four
W 87–63  3–0
Iowa State Armory 
Ames, Iowa
Dec 12, 1970*
No. 7 Iowa
Iowa Big Four
W 72–70  4–0
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 18, 1970*
No. 9 vs. Texas–Arlington
Texas Classic
W 102–83  5–0
Daniel-Meyer Coliseum 
Fort Worth, Texas
Dec 19, 1970*
No. 9 at TCU
Texas Classic
W 79–78  6–0
Daniel-Meyer Coliseum 
Fort Worth, Texas
Dec 22, 1970*
No. 9 Minnesota W 83–66  7–0
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 26, 1970*
No. 9 at Canisius
Queen City Classic
W 87–74  8–0
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 
Buffalo, New York
Dec 28, 1970*
No. 7 vs. Niagara
Queen City Classic
L 77–87  8–1
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 
Buffalo, New York
Jan 2, 1971*
No. 7 at Cincinnati L 59–60  8–2
Armory Fieldhouse 
Cincinnati, Ohio
Missouri Valley Conference regular season
Jan 7, 1971
No. 16 at Wichita State W 78–74  9–2
(1–0)
Levitt Arena 
Wichita, Kansas
Jan 9, 1971*
No. 16 Tulsa L 60–66  9–3
(1–1)
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 13, 1971
at Bradley L 85–88  9–4
(1–2)
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, Illinois
Jan 20, 1971*
UMKC W 130–73  10–4
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 23, 1971
Louisville W 81–78  11–4
(2–2)
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 28, 1971
North Texas W 90–66  12–4
(3–2)
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 30, 1971*
Memphis State W 93–70  13–4
(4–2)
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 2, 1971*
DePaul W 93–80  14–4
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 4, 1971
at Memphis State L 72–73  14–5
(4–3)
Mid-South Coliseum 
Memphis, Tennessee
Feb 11, 1971
Bradley W 113–78  15–5
(5–3)
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 13, 1971
at Saint Louis L 62–64  15–6
(5–4)
St. Louis Arena 
St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 17, 1971
at No. 19 Louisville L 52–94  15–7
(5–5)
Freedom Hall 
Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 20, 1971
at Tulsa W 87–84  16–7
(6–5)
Expo Square Pavilion 
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 23, 1971
Wichita State W 83–76  17–7
(7–5)
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 27, 1971
Saint Louis W 89–85  18–7
(8–5)
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, Iowa
Mar 2, 1971
at North Texas W 65–60  19–7
(9–5)
North Texas Men's Gym 
Denton, Texas
NCAA tournament
Mar 18, 1971*
No. 18 vs. No. 12 Notre Dame
Midwest Regional Semifinal
W 79–72 OT 21–7
Levitt Arena 
Wichita, Kansas
Mar 20, 1971*
No. 18 vs. No. 4 Kansas
Midwest Regional Final
L 71–73  21–8
Levitt Arena 
Wichita, Kansas
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
MW=Midwest.
All times are in Central Time.

[4]

Rankings

[edit]

[5]

NBA draft

[edit]

[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1970-71 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  2. ^ "21st in Row for Kansas". The New York Times. March 21, 1971. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  3. ^ "1970-71 Men's Basketball Roster". Drake University Athletics. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  4. ^ "1970-71 Men's Basketball Schedule". Drake University Athletics. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  5. ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 778–779. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  6. ^ "1971 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 5, 2023.