City of Basketball Love

By Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)
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Drexel had mixed success during its 2023 nonconference schedule. The Dragons had their highs, but also lows. From a stunning upset over Villanova — the first time defeating the Wildcats in 14 years— to letting up more than 100 points to Bryant nine days ago, Drexel head coach Zach Spiker was left with a lot of questions surrounding his team. 

Spiker highlighted the Dragons’ three Big 5 games where their opponents ranged from the Big East, A-10 and American Athletic Conference, explaining that “not many other teams in their league are doing that” along with going on the road to Princeton and West Virginia.  

Even though Drexel finished nonconference play barely above .500, the Dragons certainly tested themselves. Spiker knows his team learned from their losses and with the nonconference schedule in the past, the Dragons started the new year with Coastal Athletic Conference play.

Boosted by a career-high 20 points and four 3-pointers from Mate Okros, Drexel (8-6) defeated Hampton (4-9) 99-65 in its CAA game of the season. Drexel knocked down a season-high 11 3-pointers, while shooting 52 percent from the field nine days after the Dec. 22 loss to Bryant.

“We have the mindset of going 1-0, we try not to dwell on the past,” Okros said. “We always try to move forward and learn instead of just having the right mindset. The next game is Thursday, and we’ll try to go 1-0 again there.”

When talking about Drexel’s losses, Spiker used “LOSS” as an acronym. He explained the letters L-O stand for “lots of” before stopping himself. He joked he wasn’t allowed to say what he wanted to next, before giving the PG version by simply saying “Lots of stuff takes place” during losses. Even with the setbacks this season, Spiker has taken positives from each game no matter what.

“We learned from those six losses just as much as our wins,” Spiker said. “I thought we challenged ourselves and I thought every one of those games there was something to play for.” 

Teams like College of Charleston who earned a 12 seed in the NCAA tournament last season, along with others like UNC Wilmington and Hofsra will test Drexel in conference play. Okros felt it was important for the Dragons to get off on the right foot to start the new year. 

“It was a great way to start the conference,” Okros said.  “It just shows what we can do and what we're about and we're just gonna move on to the next game.”

Spiker added that he can’t fully attribute Drexel’s nonconference tests to its strong performance on Monday, but the Dragons definitely looked prepared against Hampton after more than a week off. Drexel set the tone in the first half by making its first seven 3-point attempts. Entering Monday, the Dragons had only knocked down seven triples three times this season.

Drexel led 18-15 at the under 12 minute timeout in the first half before embarking on a 16-4 run to extend its lead to double digits. For the rest of the game, Hampton would not get within single digits as Drexel pretty much put the game away before halftime, leading by 21.  

Twelve Drexel players who entered the game scored with five finishing in double figures. Alongside Okros, Amari Williams, the CAA Preseason Player of the Year, finished with an efficient 16 points (5-for-6 from the field), while Kobe MaGee (12 points) and Yame Butler (10 points) both finished in double figures off the bench. 

Okros mentioned that the team had a couple of good practices leading into the matchup with Hampton and was focused on “taking care of business.”

“We were just focusing on ourselves, we always have the mindset of it’s Drexel versus Drexel,” Okros said. “And then we're just fine tuning what we know we have to be better and just being the best version of ourselves.”

Trista Maxwell and Jordan Nesbitt did their best to keep Hampton competitive, both finishing with 12 points, but the Pirates were outmatched in every facet of the game. Drexel didn’t do much in the second half other than keep a comfortable lead. The Dragons led 71-41 with 14 minutes left before utilizing their bench for much of the remaining time, eventually winning by 34, their largest margin of victory this season against a Division I opponent.  

Spiker was quick to point out postgame that Drexel started three five year seniors including Okros, Luke House and Lucas Monroe and how important having a veteran presence is. 

“When you have voices and veterans, that's called a player led team and I allow them to do that and it makes us better and it gives us a higher ceiling,” Spiker said. “Coach led teams can go so far and player led teams can go further.” 

“It doesn't matter where you are in American college basketball. The older you are, the more experienced you are, the more opportunities you have to be successful.” 

When asked about what the nonconference slate did for his team, Spiker was happy with the matchups, but knows as his team heads into CAA play that every team from now until the end of the season presents a different challenge. 

“I loved our schedule and how it prepared us and I think it may have shown today. But guess what? It doesn't mean anything because we have another game on Thursday,” Spiker said.