What we learned from Drake men's basketball's comeback win vs. Richmond

Drake men’s basketball faced its toughest opponent of the young season so far, and the final score reflected that. With a late comeback led by Roman Penn, the Bulldogs kept their undefeated season intact with a 73-70 victory.

The Spiders were picked second in the Atlantic 10 preseason rankings, and Richmond is seen as an at-large candidate for the NCAA Tournament this year. The Spiders also received 13 votes in the preseason Associated Press top 25 men’s basketball poll.

Drake has its own preseason accolades, including the Bulldogs’ selection as the early favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference. Head coach Darian DeVries' squad entered Saturday’s contest as one of two MVC teams with undefeated records. The other is Loyola Chicago, which will leave the MVC for the A-10 at the end of the season.

Richmond gives Drake its first real test

The Bulldogs expected Richmond to be a tough nonconference opponent. Just as other opponents have exposed cracks in Drake’s foundation, the Spiders revealed what the Bulldogs need to fix — and fast.

Richmond led 36-35 at the half. Drake is only three games in, but this is the first time the Bulldogs haven’t gone to locker room with an already established lead. A point isn’t anything to fret about. But the Bulldogs did allow Richmond to put up 7 points in the final two minutes of the first half, which eliminated the narrow 33-29 lead Drake held.

The Spiders scored the first points of the second half, as well, and extended the lead before D.J. Wilkins sunk a 3-pointer. Drake ultimately played tighter basketball in the second half, but Richmond gave the home team a run for its money.

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Drake has some communication issues to sort out

If this matchup showed anything, it’s that little mistakes add up. A missed layup and a turnover are just part of the game. But when they happen back to back, they can spell trouble, and those consecutive mistakes happened to Drake more times than they should for a team returning all five of last season’s starters.

Richmond pulled out to a small 3-0 lead in the first minute-and-a-half. At the same time, the Bulldogs missed a layup, turned over the ball and committed two fouls.

Later in the half, ShanQuan Hemphill missed a dunk on a feed from Penn and, when the ball moved to the other end of the court, Hemphill and Wilkins ran into each other. Drake regained offensive possession and immediately threw an errant pass out of bounds.

Early in the second half, Darnell Brodie pulled down a defensive rebound and took the ball downcourt himself. He tried to make a no-look, backward bounce to Penn, but turned the ball over instead and Richmond scored.

Again, these can all be attributed to the nature of the game. But these aren’t rookies making all the mistakes; these are examples of communication issues between the same players that led Drake to the NCAA Tournament less than a year ago.

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Bulldogs bench still stands out

Drake’s biggest advantage continues to be its depth. There really isn’t a player on DeVries' bench that can’t come into a game and make a difference, and it gives the Bulldogs a unique opportunity to sit their starters for extended periods of time — which should pay off down the stretch.

Richmond edged Drake in several statistical categories. But Drake dominated the Spiders in bench points, outscoring Richmond's bench 25-11. Two players, Tyler Burton and Grant Golden, scored 47 of Richmond’s 70 points.

Alyssa Hertel is a college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What we learned from Drake men's basketball's win vs. Richmond