Indianapolis, Ind. – The Drake University men's basketball team's historic 2020-21 season ended Saturday night with a 72-56 loss to USC in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Drake finishes the year 26-5, matching the record of the Bulldogs' 1968-69 Final Four team. The Bulldogs' 26 wins tie for the second-most in a season in team history, and Drake earned the program's first NCAA Tournament victory in 50 years.
Joseph Yesufu led all scorers with 26 points.
"Obviously we're disappointed that we have to go home," said Drake head coach
Darian DeVries. "But I'm certainly proud of our guys' effort, not only tonight but this entire season. You hate to see it end, but I felt like we fought to the bitter end today and came up a little short."
Yesufu continued his torrid play of late with another hot start, netting 14 of Drake's first 18 points courtesy of 4-for-4 shooting from 3 and a ceiling-scraping floater over the outstretched arms of USC's Evan Mobley.
ShanQuan Hemphill, who played all 16 of his minutes in the first half, tallied six points for the contest, and his and-one layup with 8:09 remaining in the first half gave Drake its first lead of the game, 26-23.
The Bulldogs' offense ran cold, however, as Drake missed eight of its next nine shot attempts, and USC capitalized with a 9-2 outburst.
Yesufu remained aggressive through the dry spell and sunk two free throws late in the first half as the Bulldogs trailed 40-37 at the break.
Yesufu opened the second half with his fifth triple of the game. He finished 6-of-11 from behind the arc, setting a personal best for 3-pointers made in a game. Yesufu notch the seventh 20-plus point performance of his career, all of which have come in the last nine games.
Drake's offense soon found itself stuck in mud as USC, the tallest team in the country with an average height of 6-foot-8, imposed its will defensively.
Mobley, the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, led USC with 17 points and posted game-highs in rebounds (11) and blocks (three). The Trojans recorded seven blocked shots, equaling the most by a Drake foe this season, and outscored Drake, 42-16, in the paint. USC limited the Bulldogs to 7-of-37 (18.9 percent) shooting in the second half.
"We got a little tired, and their length really caught up to us," said Yesufu. "We knew that was going to be a huge thing. But I felt like we left it all out there, and I couldn't be more proud of the guys."
The result brings an end to a memorable season.
"I've told people all year I just love these guys," said DeVries. "I love what they're all about and how they've had to be so resilient all year to get to this point. They're an incredible bunch of guys to coach and be around every day, and I couldn't be more proud of them."
DeVries, the two-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, has guided the Bulldogs to three-straight 20-win seasons, a feat accomplished only once before in program history. In three seasons under DeVries, Drake won 70 games, the winningest three-year stretch in program history.
