Drake pulls out squeaker at buzzer
Tournament win is first in 50 years
Joseph Yesufu scored 21 points and Drake beat Wichita State, 53-52, Thursday night in West Lafayette, Ind., the Bulldogs’ first NCAA tournament win in a half-century.
Drake’s previous tournament victory had been 50 years ago to the day —March 18, 1971, against Notre Dame.
“To get a win for our program that hasn’t happened in 50 years — it’s really exciting,” Bulldogs coach Darian DeVries said. “These guys have fought through so much, and for them to be the ones to get us one, I think is really deserving.”
The Bulldogs were hardly overmatched in this year’s tournament field — they came in with 25 wins, second most of the 68 teams behind top overall seed Gonzaga, and their tense matchup with a longtime Missouri Valley Conference rival in Wichita State (16-6) brought some early drama to the pandemicaffected tourney.
Wichita State’s Dexter Dennis made a 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining to trim Drake’s lead to a point. The Bulldogs (26-4) 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-pointer that hit the front rim as time expired.
“Perseverance,” Yesufu said. “We’ve been doing that all year.”
Other games Texas Southern 60, Mount St. Mary’s 52:
Forward John Walker III celebrated the program’s second NCAA tournament win the way he always envisioned — hooting, hollering and just having fun. Nothing, not even a small, mostly quiet arena in Bloomington, Ind., could dampen his enthusiasm. After scoring a seasonhigh 19 points, grabbing a career-high tying nine rebounds and leading the Tigers (17-8) back from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Mount St. Mary’s (12-11) in the first tournament game in nearly two years, Walker let loose.
“I feel like I’m on top of the world,” he shouted.
The Tigers have won 10 in a row. Next up for the No. 16 seed in the East Region is top- seeded Michigan on Saturday.
Norfolk State 54, Appalachian State 53: Devante Carter made two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining for the Spartans (17-7), who won after blowing an 18-point second-half lead. The MidEastern Athletic Conference champion Spartans completed a sweep by historically Black colleges and universities on the first day of NCAA tournament play, joining Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Texas Southern. Norfolk State advanced to face top overall seed Gonzaga on Saturday. Justin Forrest had 18 points for Appalachian State (17-12), which shot 27% and missed its final 10 attempts.