Five things to know about Wichita State’s NCAA Tournament opponent: Drake Bulldogs
The Wichita State men’s basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament and up against a familiar foe in Thursday’s First Four games in Indiana.
In a play-in game in the West regional between No. 11 seeds, the Shockers (16-5) will face Drake (25-4) at 5:27 Thursday night at Purdue’s Mackey Arena in West Lafayette (TBS) with the winner advancing to play No. 6 seed USC in a first-round game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (TNT).
Here are five things to know about WSU’s March Madness opponent:
1. Wichita State has played Drake more than any other team
The Shockers have faced former Missouri Valley rival Drake more than any other team in program history, as WSU leads the series 104-47 and has won the last 11 meetings. Drake has not beaten WSU since a triple-overtime, 93-86 win in Des Moines on Jan. 28, 2012. The Shockers have not played another MVC school since leaving for the American Athletic Conference four years ago.
2. Drake has the third-most wins in school history
Drake enters the NCAA Tournament with a 25-4 record, the third-most wins in program single-season history — only behind the 26-5 record by the 1969 Final Four team and the 28-5 mark by the 2008 team that swept the MVC regular-season and post-season titles.
3. Drake is dealing with injuries
Drake will be without one of its best players and could be down another crucial player for Thursday’s game. Drake knows for sure that junior guard Roman Penn, a first team all-conference guard who averaged 11.2 points and 5.5 assists, will be out after suffering a season-ending foot injury on Feb. 21. The Bulldogs might also be without 6-6 senior forward ShanQuan Hemphill, who average 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds and was chosen the MVC Newcomer of the Year. Hemphill underwent surgery for a fracture in his left foot Feb. 11 and was projected to miss four weeks.
4. Guard Joe Yesufu has been electric
The 6-foot sophomore guard is now relied on as Drake’s go-to player following the injuries. He came off the bench for most of the season and averaged 12.1 points, but has been a starter who has played all but one minute for Drake in its last five games. Yesufu has averaged 23.1 points in his last seven games, including a 68 points in a two-game stretch against Evansville in late February.
5. Drake wants to score inside the arc
Drake ranks No. 303 in the country in three-point rate, but still has the 19th-best offense on KenPom’s adjusted efficiency rankings because it makes 54.4% of its two-point shots — the 29th-best mark in the country. The Bulldogs can hit threes (the team shoots 36.6% from deep) but they only attempted 19 per game in conference play.
This story was originally published March 14, 2021 at 7:12 PM.
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