First Four tips off NCAA play
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Joseph Yesufu scored 21 points as Drake beat Wichita State 53-52 on Thursday night in a First Four game, the Bulldogs’ first win in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament in half a century. Drake’s last tournament victory had been 50 years ago to the day, on March 18, 1971, against Notre Dame. The Bulldogs were hardly overmatched in this year’s tournament field. They came in with 25 wins, second among the 68 teams behind No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga, and their tense matchup with a longtime Missouri Valley Conference rival brought some early drama to an event altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wichita State’s Dexter Dennis made a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining to trim Drake’s lead to a point. The Bulldogs got the ball in to Yesufu, who was fouled. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to give the Shockers a chance, but Wichita State’s Alterique Gilbert settled for a long 3-point try that hit the front rim as time expired. “Perseverance,” Yesufu said. “We’ve been doing that all year.” Tremell Murphy added 11 points for 11th-seeded Drake (26-4), which advanced to play sixth-seeded Southern California in the West Region on Saturday. Wichita State (16-6) made just 11 of 22 free throws. In another First Four matchup, this one in Bloomington, John Walker III scored a season-high 19 points and Jordan Gilliam added 12 to help Texas Southern erase a 10-point halftime deficit and beat Mount St. Mary’s in the first March Madness matchup in nearly two years. Texas Southern (17-8), the No. 16 seed in the East Region, won its 10th straight game and faces top-seeded Michigan (20-4). The Mountaineers (12-11) fell to 1-9 in NCAA tourney play.
GOLF
› PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Matt Jones opened the Honda Classic with a remarkable round, and yet he was remarkably unimpressed. Jones tied the course record Thursday on a typically windy day at PGA National with a bogey-free 9-under-par 61, giving him a three-shot lead. He matched the mark set by Brian Harman in the second round in 2012, and the 40-year-old Australian was one shot better than the closing score for Tiger Woods that same year. All told, there have been roughly 6,000 tournament rounds at this event since it moved to PGA National in 2007. None was better than this one from Jones, who is No. 83 in the Official World Golf Ranking, earned his lone PGA Tour win via playoff at the 2014 Houston Open and seemed most unfazed by what he did Thursday. “I play golf for a living,” Jones said. “I mean, I should be able to shoot a good golf score occasionally. It doesn’t happen as much as I want. But yes, I’m very happy with it.” Russell Henley and Aaron Wise each shot a 64, matching the best score at the Honda Classic by anyone except Jones since Russell Knox and Rory McIlroy each shot a 63 in 2014. Nobody in the field last year shot better than a 66. “That’s an amazing round,” Wise said of what Jones did. “But I felt like I played one, too.” Tied for fourth at 66 were Joseph Bramlett, Kevin Chappell, Scott Harrington, Steve Stricker and Australia’s Cameron Davis. Chattanooga native Keith Mitchell (69) was tied for 27th, with fellow Baylor School graduate Luke List (75) tied for 117th.
FOOTBALL
› NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans have agreed to a one-year deal with AllPro long snapper Morgan Cox, bringing him back to his home state. The Titans announced the agreement Thursday along with those for defensive lineman Denico Autry and offensive tackle Kendall Lamm
as they finalize the paperwork with their free-agent signees. The Titans went through a couple long snappers this past season, when they released veteran Beau Brinkley
in November after he played 135 games in nine seasons for the franchise. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Cox has played 165 games in 11 NFL seasons with the Baltimore Ravens after going undrafted in 2010 out of the University of Tennessee, where the Collierville native played three seasons with the Volunteers. On Wednesday, a few minutes after the start of the new NFL year, the Titans announced agreements keeping tight ends Anthony Firkser and Geoff Swaim
on one-year deals; the team also confirmed on that day its trade of former Georgia Bulldogs standout Isaiah Wilson, the offensive tackle picked 29th overall in 2020, and a 2022 seventh-round draft pick to the Miami Dolphins for a seventh-round selection in this April’s draft.