Vanderbilt, Drake bring undefeated marks into Charleston Classic title game

Field Level Media|published: Sun 24th November, 01:57 2024

Vanderbilt guard A.J. Hoggard (11) celebrates after a basket against California during an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn.

Drake and Vanderbilt, which both have new coaches and are off to undefeated starts, are set to face off Sunday in the Charleston Classic championship game in Charleston, S.C.

Drake (5-0) beat Miami on Thursday and Florida Atlantic on Friday in two impressive wins in Charleston, but Drake coach Ben McCollum is far from satisfied.

"I thought our guys did a good job of executing for about 30 minutes," McCollum said after the FAU win. "The other 10 minutes we decided not to execute."

McCollum, who won four NCAA Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022), brought in four players from his former school to Drake.

One of those players is Bennett Stirtz, who has been brilliant at Charleston, averaging 19.0 points and 6.0 assists in two games.

Mitch Mascari, a 6-5 shooting guard who also came over from Northwest Missouri State, is averaging 18.5 points at Charleston, thanks to 9-for-16 shooting on 3-pointers.

As for Vanderbilt (6-0), coach Mark Byington arrived from James Madison, which he led last season to a 32-4 record -- the most wins in program history -- and a win in the NCAA Tournament.

Byington brought in 10 transfers for this season, including all five starters: AJ Hoggard (Michigan State); Jason Edwards (North Texas); Devin McGlockton (Boston College); Tyler Nickel (Virginia Tech); and Grant Huffman (Davidson).

Hoggard, who made 83 starts at Michigan State, posted 18 points and seven assists in Vanderbilt's 73-71 win over Nevada on Thursday in Charleston.

On Friday, Nickel scored a career-high-tying 24 points in Vanderbilt's 76-60 win over Seton Hall. He went 6 of 13 on 3-pointers.

"I learned we're tough," Byington said after the win over Seton Hall. "We reward guys who are unselfish. Our guys have to care about each other. When they care about each other, the assists come, the screens come, the good things come."

Byington said his players were planning to spend the off day Saturday resting while the coaches dig into the scouting report on Drake.

"They've had a really good program in the past," Byington said of Drake. "They have a new coach who has done a terrific job. I don't know much (more) about them. It's going to be a crash study for the next 24 hours."

--Field Level Media