Drake upsets Missouri in men’s March Madness

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McNeese State, Amir Khan, advance to the Round of 32

While McNeese has taken down Clemson for their first NCAA Tournament win in school history, it’s student manager Amir “Aura” Khan continues to steal the show.

Sports Seriously

Editor’s note: Follow Men’s March Madness live scores and updates for Thursday’s first-round games.

No. 11 Drake entered the NCAA Tournament with the best scoring defense in the country, and the Bulldogs flexed their muscle against a high-scoring Missouri team with a 67-57 upset of the sixth-seeded Tigers, moving on to the second round of the men’s NCAA Tournament.

Under first-year head coach Ben McCollum, Drake has made it difficult for opponents to score, giving up an average of 58.4 points per game. However, the first-round matchup against Missouri was its stiffest test yet. Missouri averaged 84.5 points per game − ninth-best in Division I − and was sixth in KenPom offensive rating.

But the Bulldogs made Missouri play their style of basketball; a slow, grind-it-out game with nearly every possession ending as the shot clock expired. The Tigers couldn’t get a rhythm going.

Missouri took a brief lead in the first five minutes of the game, but Drake jumped ahead and the struggles began for the Tigers. Mizzou only made seven field goals in the first half and had nine turnovers. While the Tigers couldn’t buy a bucket, Missouri Valley player of the year Bennett Stirtz got Drake going. The iron man of college basketball as the nation’s leader in minutes per game, he scored 12 of Drake’s first 18 points and finished with a game-high 21 points.

Missouri trailed by seven at the break, and it only got worse from there. It missed its first eight shots and committed four turnovers, allowing the Bulldogs to jump out to a game-high 15-point lead with less than 13 minutes to go.

The Tigers’ offense woke up midway through the second half and cut the deficit to one point with four and a half minutes left. Drake didn’t crack, and Missouri’s shooting struggles…

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Source link : https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2025/03/20/drake-upsets-missouri-mens-ncaa-tournament/82582718007/

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Publish date : 2025-03-21 02:32:00

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