Malik Dia lead Belmont with 32 points. Photo courtesy of Belmont University.

As Ja’Kobi Gillespie sat on the bench watching his teammates warm up, his right hand would occasionally grip the cast on his left arm, a constant reminder of his injured left wrist that would prevent him from playing a crucial game against Drake.

With that image in their minds, Belmont fans could only focus on how bad things could get against a 12-2 team that was favored to win the Missouri Valley and was a 4 ½ -point favorite on the road.

Then the game started. The Bruins were inspired, playing their best game of the season and crushing Drake 87-65 Sunday afternoon at the Curb Center.

“You see it in sports all the time,’’ said Belmont coach Casey Alexander said about teams playing well without important players. “I don’t think we did anything super human and all, but we were really well connected today and played really hard and we played well. You put those things together and you get an outcome like this.’’

It was an obvious team victory but two individual performances stood out.

— Sophomore big man Malik Dia, the transfer from Vanderbilt, scored a career-high 32 points while torturing Drake with an array of offensive moves. He hit five of eight three-pointers but also a few spinning, banking layups and one thunderous breakaway dunk that brought the crowd to its feet.

— Keishawn Davidson, who had been removed from the starting lineup in November, was back in place of Gillespie. He accepted the challenge, playing 29 minutes, scoring 14 points but also organizing an offense that was highly efficient.

“The biggest thing is Keishawn Davidson had to be impactful,’’ said Alexander. “He doesn’t have to win the game for us. We need him to give us 30 to 35 minutes of great point guard play.’’

— Defense was also important. The raw stats won’t back this up entirely because Drake shot 50 percent from the field overall and 58 percent in the second half, but the Bulldogs only made 5 of 23 threes and their leading scorer, Tucker DeVries, was held to 13 points, six below his average.

“The unsung hero in the game is Cade Tyson,’’ said Alexander. “You always look at Cade in the offensive end and today it was tough to come by (only nine points), but he guarded DeVries almost the entire night. He was relentless with his effort.’’

Gillespie’s injury is expected to sideline him for a few weeks. In the meantime, the Bruins try to use the victory over Drake as a template.

— In two losses to Drake last season, Belmont made only two three-pointers in 32 attempts. Dia hit two threes in the first minute of Sunday’s victory. The Bruins were 12 for 22 in the game.

— Ahead for Belmont is a home game Wednesday vs. Illinois State (8-7) and then a tough road trip to Indiana State (13-2) Saturday.