Drake breaks long drought, finally gets tournament win
Joseph Yesufu scored 21 points and Drake beat Wichita State 53-52 on Thursday night in the First Four in West Lafayette, Ind., the Bulldogs’ first NCAA Tournament win in a half-century.
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 longtime Missouri Valley Conference rival brought some early drama to the pandemic-affected tourney.
Wichita State’s Dexter Dennis made a 3-pointer with 8 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-pointer that hit the front rim as time expired.
The win was extra validation for Drake coach Darian DeVries, who was rewarded with a contract extension through 2028-29 on Wednesday.
Tremell Murphy added 11 points for 11th-seeded Drake (26-4), which advanced to play sixth-seeded USC in the West Region on Saturday.
Morris Udeze scored a career-high 22 points and
Dennis added 13 for Wichita State (16-6).
TEXAS SOUTHERN 60, MOUNT SAINT MARY’S 52>> John Walker III scored a season-high 19 points and Jordan Gilliam had 12 to help the Tigers (17-8) erase a 10-point halftime deficit and beat the Mountaineers (1211) in the first NCAA Tournament game in nearly two years in Bloomington, Ind.
It’s the second straight First Four win for the Tigers, who also won in 2018 — their most recent tourney appearance. Texas Southern, the No. 16 seed in the East Region, won its 10th straight game and faces top-seeded Michigan (20-4) on Saturday.
NORFOLK STATE 54, APPALACHIAN STATE 53>> The Spartans improved to 17-7 and will face No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga after their win. Appalachian State is 17-12. NCAA SETS ARENA LIMITS FOR MARCH MADNESS AT 22% CAPACITY >> The NCAA released capacity figures for the six March Madness venues Thursday. Because of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no arena will hold more than 22% of its capacity.
Lucas Oil Stadium, which will host the Final Four along with games over the first and second weeks, will hold 6,900 fans on one court and 8,500 on the other.
Games at Indiana University will be limited to 500 attendees, or 3% of capacity. Games at Purdue will be limited to 1,350 fans (9%). Farmers Coliseum will hold 1,200 fans (18%), Hinkle Fieldhouse will hold 1,250 (14%) and Bankers Life Fieldhouse will hold between 2,500 and 3,800 (13-19%) depending on the time of the games and postgame cleanup. COVID-19 TESTING >> NCAA vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said there have been eight positive COVID-19 tests among the more than 9,100 performed since teams started arriving in Indianapolis on Saturday.
Those include tests performed on all individuals affiliated with the schools — not just players, coaches and staff who are part of the schools’ Tier 1 group and get tested daily.
Gavitt said any player who tests positive must isolate for 10 days. They have the choice to stay in the NCAA’s “controlled environment” or be transported back to campus.
Women
ONLY ONE POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST AT WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT>> The NCAA has administered nearly 2,700 tests so far and only one has come back positive, which was a great sign for the women’s basketball tournament in San Antonio.