Drake secures 1st tournament win since 1971

Joseph Yesufu scored 21 points and Drake beat Wichita State 53-52 on Thursday night in the First Four, the Bulldogs’ first NCAA Tournament win in a half-century.

The game was played at Purdue in West Lafayette.

Drake’s previous tournament victory was 50 years ago to the day — March 18, 1971, against Notre Dame.

The Bulldogs were hardly overmatched in this year’s tournament field, however — they came in with 25 wins, second most of the 68 teams behind top overall seed Gonzaga, and their tense matchup with a former Missouri Valley Conference rival brought some early drama to the pandemic-affected tourney.

Wichita State’s Dexter Dennis made a 3 with 8 seconds left 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 that hit the front rim as time expired.

Drake (26-4) advanced to play No. 6 seed Southern California in the West Region on Saturday.

In the opening First Four game, John Walker III scored a season-high 19 points and Jordan Gilliam had 12 to help Texas Southern erase a 10-point halftime deficit and beat Mount St. Mary’s 60-52 at Indiana’s Assembly Hall in Bloomington.

It’s the second straight First Four victory for the Tigers (17-8), whoalso wonin 2018 — their most recent tournament appearance.

Texas Southern, the No. 16 seed in the East, won its 10th straight and will next face top-seeded Michigan (20-4) on Saturday.

Top Georgia Tech player out: Georgia Tech star big man Moses Wright, the ACC player of the year, will miss the ninth-seeded Yellow Jackets’ first-round game against No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago on Friday night, ESPN reported Wednesday night.

Wright, who averages 17.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game, also likely will be out if Tech wins and advances to face the winner of No. 1 seed Illinois-No. 16 Drexel.