Image Credit: Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

2025 March Madness: Drake Defeats Missouri for First NCAA Tournament Win in 54 Years

Drake will either play Texas Tech (3) or UNC Wilmington (14) in the next round on Saturday.

Image Credit: Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

The 11-seed Drake basketball team qualified for the round of 32 for the first time in 54 years after a 67-57 win over Missouri. Bulldogs overcame sixth-seed Missouri in a March Madness first-round game.

Ben McCollum’s team made history on Thursday at Intrust Bank Arena. It was the first time since 1971 when Drake won a first-round game in the NCAA basketball championship. Drake has been in four of the last five NCAA tournaments, but they failed to win a first-round game.

Drake is into the Rd of 32 for the first time since 1971. In the 1st year of Ben McCollum coaching D1 hoops.

31-3 overall
7-0 vs Q1/2
4-0 vs Power conf opp

R U NOT ENTERTAINED!? pic.twitter.com/6xjKKTIqq6
— Chris Hassel (@Hassel_Chris) March 21, 2025

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Drake secures place in round-of-32 for the first time since 1971

Drake made a fluent start to the game and held the Tigers to 23 points in the first half. It was the season-low for the sixth-seed Missouri. They hit only two 3-pointers a piece in the first half. The Tigers shot just 4-of-16 from the 3-point line as a team.

Drake sparked a 13-5 run in the second half and extended their lead to 15 points. Missouri improved their offense and pulled off a comeback with 10 straight points. The Bulldogs thwarted the comeback attempt of the Tigers with a 6-0 burst to grab a first-round win.

A straightaway three off one leg. Bennett Stirtz remains PERFECT from deep @DrakeBulldogsMB pic.twitter.com/2BS7V4VLgo
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 21, 2025

Bennett Stirtz, the conference’s Player of the Year, scored 14 points for Drake and shot 5-of-8 from the field in the first 20 minutes. He finished with 21 points, four rebounds and one assist. Caleb Grill led Missouri with 14 points but shot just 1-of-7 from behind the arc. Tamar Bates 10.

Ben McCollum is setting a new benchmark for Drake’s basketball team in his first year in charge. He is 4-0 against the power conference opposition and 7-0 against Q1/2 in NCAA.

It was a bitter defeat for the Tigers as they dropped six of their last eight games. Their four defeats came against the unranked opponents. On the flip side, the Bulldogs improved to 31-3 and will either play Texas Tech (3) or UNC Wilmington (14) in the next round on Saturday.

Image Credit: Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

Ben McCollum

Drake

March Madness

NCAA Tournament

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A native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, journalist, and a complete soccer and basketball fan, he found the huge interest with basketball by watching videos of Allen Iverson and Tony Parker, but fell head over heels in love with the sport during the Warriors’ championship era (2015-2018). A sports game addict since his late PS1, he’s also passionate about the Eagles, Inter Miami and the Fever. He’s fortunate to have seen all his favorite teams win championships. He also has a special love for cricket and football (soccer), where he is a fan of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barcelona.