WICHITA, Kan. — Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points and No. 11 seed Drake, a team relying heavily on Division II transfers, held on after blowing most of a 15-point lead to beat sixth-seeded Missouri 67-57 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Tavion Banks added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (31-3), who along with first-year coach Ben McCollum advanced to a second-round matchup with third-seeded Texas Tech or No. 14 seed UNC Wilmington on Saturday.
Caleb Grill had 14 points for Missouri (22-12). Tamar Bates had 10 before fouling out.
As expected, the game was a stylistic clash: Drake and its nation-leading scoring defense trying to force a rock fight, and Missouri with its top-10 scoring offense trying to push the tempo whenever it had the chance.
The Bulldogs made every shot a chore, and at the other end, they patiently probed for openings. Usually it was Stirtz — one of the Northwest Missouri State quartet who followed McCollum to Drake — who was knocking down a 3 or driving to the rim.
The Missouri Valley champs forged a 30-23 halftime lead. And it appeared as if the small school from Des Moines, Iowa — with an enrollment of 4,774 — would be able to put the game away, extending the advantage to 43-28 with 12:40 to go.
That’s when Missouri began to press in an attempt to push the pace, and the Bulldogs struggled to deal with it. At one point, the Tigers ripped off 10 consecutive points, closing within 52-51 on Mark Mitchell’s free throw with 4:28 remaining.
Drake answered with six consecutive points to restore its cushion, and the Tigers were unable to finish their comeback.
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