Playing suffocating defense and efficient offense, eleventh seeded Drake defeated Missouri 67-57 and has reached the NCAA Tournament's round of 32. Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points and Tavion Banks added 15 as Drake improved to 31-3.
Ben McCollum's team led the nation in scoring defense (58.4 points per game) coming into the Big Dance and held Missouri 27 points under its season scoring average. They forced the Tigers into 17 turnovers and a miserable 33 percent shooting night.
Drake defeated its fourth power conference team and is a perfect 2-0 against the SEC.
Texas Tech awaits Drake on Saturday. The Red Raiders knocked off UNC Wilmington 82-72 behind the 27-point performance by Kerwin Walton. Texas Tech (26-8) made 13, three-pointers. The two teams will vie for a berth in the Sweet Sixteen at 5:10 Saturday on TNT.
Drake continues to defy conventional wisdom. They aren't very athletic, but they are arguably the nation's best defensive squad. The Missouri Valley Conference champions aren't tall, but they are among the top rebounding teams nationally, but once again they will be an underdog on Saturday.
Drake likes to play, what McCollum calls 'patient' offense, that translates to the slowest offensive pace in the nation. But the Bulldogs are efficient. Thursday they handed out 18 assists on twenty-five made baskets and made 54 percent of their shots.
They are what guard Mitch Mascari called 'handsy' on defense. They force deflections and force teams to play in 'the deep end'. McCollum says everyone likes to swim in shallow end of the pool, but not that many want to swim where the water is deep.
Wing Daniel Abreu says, 'in the deep end, you find out what you're really made of."
They will need to take Texas Tech and all-American JT Toppin to the deep end if they want to reach the Sweet Sixteen. The Big Twelve's 'Player of the Year' recorded a double-double on Thursday and the 6'9 sophomore is a double-double machine. He averages over 18 points and nine rebounds per contest.
How Drake's big men, Cam Manyawu and Tavion Banks can slow Toppin will be a key to Drake's potential success. But how they perform offensively, might be just as important. Drake is 18-0 when Banks reaches double figures.
Drake won't be intimidated by TTU's offensive capabilities. While they average over 80 points per game, they are not a physically imposing team. Drake's 'patient' offense forces teams to defend longer than normal and actually affects the opposition's offense.
Mascari says Drake players are just more willing to do the little things other players won't and that's why they win. McCollum calls it 'death by a thousand paper cuts'.
Drake's desires to reach the Sweet Sixteen depends on those little things.