Drexel Readies For Home Opener Vs. Illinois State
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Drexel plays its home opener Thursday night as they welcome Illinois State to the DAC.
The Dragons opened the campaign on the road last week, as they traveled to Kent State on Friday and lost in overtime 66-62.
"We didn't really play particularly well," head coach Bruiser Flint tells KYW Newsradio. "Not only frustrated me, but I hope we frustrated ourselves in our play. But we weren't ready to play and Kent State took it to us."
LISTEN: Matt Leon interviews Bruiser Flint
One of the big questions around this year's Drexel squad is what will they do to fill the void left by Samme Givens. The forward, who was a consistent scoring and rebounding presence in the post, has graduated and Flint talks about how they adjust to life without him.
"I've told guys, 'Look, you're not going to replace Samme - kid scored 1200 points and had 1000 rebounds, but you can be a person that is effective for us by doing the things you need to do. be an inside presence, rebound the ball, play defense.'"
SPORTS PHOTOS: Check out more photography from Dan Leung
Illinois State won its season opener over UC-Santa Barbara by 28 on Monday and Flint says they pose a great challenge.
"They were picked to be one or two in the Missouri Valley, last year they were a team that went to the NIT, won (a game). (Senior forward) Jackie Carmichael is a kid that people think has a chance to be an NBA draft pick.
"They've got a veteran team. They return a lot of starters, so its going to be a tough game. Plus it's (Sixers coach) Doug Collins' alma mater and he says he is going to be in the house, so our team better be ready."
Drexel and Illinois State tip-off Thursday at 7:00pm at the DAC.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
