WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — 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.
Drake’s last 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 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.
“Perseverance,” Yesufu said. “We’ve been doing that all year.”
UCLA 86, MICHIGAN STATE 80, OT
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — UCLA showed plenty of fight in its overtime win over Michigan State in a First Four game in the NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans showed some fight, too — among themselves.
After coach Tom Izzo and forward Gabe Brown carried a shouting match into the halftime locker room, the Spartans proceeded to blow an 11-point lead over the next 20 minutes. UCLA forced overtime with Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s three-point play with 3.3 seconds to go, then pulled away in the extra session for an 86-80 victory at Mackey Arena on Thursday night.
The Bruins’ Cody Riley hit a foul shot with 26 seconds left and, after the Spartans’ Joshua Langford missed at the other end, Jaylen Clark added two more to send UCLA into a first-round game against No. 6 seed BYU on Saturday night.
TEXAS SOUTHERN 60, MT. ST. MARY’S 52
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Texas Southern 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, could dampen his enthusiasm.
After scoring a season-high 19 points, grabbing a career-high tying nine rebounds and leading the Tigers back from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Mount St. Mary’s 60-52 in the first tourney game in nearly two years, Walker let loose.
“I feel like I’m on top of the world,” he shouted. “I just wanted it so bad, it wasn’t even about me. It was about going out there and beating a good team and getting it done.”
The Tigers (17-8) have won 10 straight overall and improved to 2-0 in First Four games. Their win over North Carolina Central in 2018 was the program’s first in the NCAA Tournament. Next up for the No. 16 seed in the East Region is top-seeded Michigan (20-4) on Saturday.
For at least a few moments, the Tigers soaked up their victory. Coach Johnny Jones’ players doused him with a cooler of water.
“They drenched me,” he said. “I’m sitting here all wet, but I’ll tell you what — it’s one of the best feelings I’ve had in cold water in a long time.”
NORFOLK ST. 54, APPALACHIAN ST. 53
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Devante Carter made two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining, and Norfolk State held on to beat Appalachian State 54-53 in the First Four on Thursday night after blowing an 18-point second-half lead.
The Mid-Eastern 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, which beat Mount St. Mary’s earlier Thursday. Norfolk State advanced to face top overall seed Gonzaga on Saturday.
Jalen Hawkins scored 20 of his 24 points before halftime for the Spartans (17-7), who earned their first tournament win since upsetting No. 2 seed Missouri in 2012.