Wednesday, March 18th, 10:05 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Memorial Gym (2,000) -- Moscow, Idaho. Television: None. Home Record: Drake 12-7, Idaho 12-3. Away Record: Drake 4-6, Idaho 4-11. Neutral Record: Drake 1-2, Idaho 0-1. Conference Record: Drake 7-11, Idaho 9-7. Series Record: Drake leads, 1-0.

GAME NOTES: The darlings of the Missouri Valley Conference a year ago, the Drake Bulldogs find themselves competing in the first annual CollegeInsiders.com Postseason Tournament tonight, heading to Memorial Gym in Moscow where they will encounter the Idaho Vandals. The Bulldogs had a strong non-conference record with 10 wins in 14 attempts, but against the rest of the MVC the program dropped 11 of 18 games and went from closing out the regular season with two straight setbacks to the likes of Southern Illinois and Bradley by a combined three points, to falling in a 62-55 final versus Indiana State during the league tournament 13 days ago. As for the Vandals, they went from a team that won just eight total games in 2007-08, just five in Western Athletic Conference play, to posting a 16-15 record this season and a 9-7 mark versus the rest of the league. Down the stretch, the squad claimed three straight wins and six in the last seven before bowing to Louisiana Tech in the WAC Tournament six days ago. This is just the second meeting all-time between these two programs, with Drake winning the first encounter more than half a century ago with a 58-53 triumph at home in December of 1949. The winner of this bout will be back in action in the quarterfinals of the event next week.

The Bulldogs were knocked down more than a few pegs from last season and have settled for this postseason appearance as a result. Josh Young, who was named to the All-MVC Second Team, led the group with his 15.3 ppg, even as he shot a mere 38.4 percent from the floor and 32.6 percent behind the three-point line. Jonathan Cox, who became just the fourth Drake player to lead the conference in rebounding in the last four decades, was also an All-MVC Second Team choice after posting 12.4 ppg and 8.4 rpg for the group. With 26 blocked shots, Cox was first in that department as well for the Bulldogs, giving him one more than Brent Heemskerk (3.8 ppg) who didn't do much at the offensive end of the floor despite starting 23 games. Josh Parker accounted for another 10.6 ppg and was the most accurate three-point shooter at 42.5 percent, although he was behind both Young and Cox in terms of total three-pointers made.

Without question, one of the top performers in the WAC this season was Mac Hopson for the Vandals. While playing more than 34 minutes per game, Hopson led the team in scoring (16.6 ppg), assists (182) and steals (55) over the course of 31 starts, and was second on the list with five rebounds per contest. Although he shot a mere 67.9 percent at the free-throw line, Hopson was a good bet behind the three-point line for Idaho with his 44.6 percent accuracy. Kashif Watson, the only other double-digit scorer for the program with his 10.3 ppg, was in the same league with Hopson at the charity stripe with his 69.7 percent effort, but out on the perimeter Watson tended to extend himself a bit too much, making just 7-of-33 chances this season. As a team, the Vandals converted just 65.3 percent at the stripe and that's perhaps the one thing that really kept them from improving beyond their success this season.

Although this game has been scaled down to fit inside Memorial Gym instead of the Cowan Spectrum, expect the support for the Vandals to still be strong as they advance in this new enterprise.

Predicted Outcome

Idaho 68, Drake 61