DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Drake men's basketball team learned it will play Washington State on Thursday, March 21 at 9:05 p.m. CT in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Omaha, Neb., at CHI Health Center. The matchup will be televised live on TruTV. 

Washington State with a 24-9 overall record finished second in the Pac-12 with a conference mark of 14-6. The Cougars are ranked No. 22 nationally in the latest Associated Press poll. Washington State as a No. 7 seed earned its seventh NCAA berth in program history and first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 2008. Current Drake forward Carlos Rosario spent the previous two seasons at WSU. Former Bulldog guard Joseph Yesufu transferred this past offseason to Washington State from Kansas.

The winner of that game will play the winner of the No. 2 Iowa State-No. 15 South Dakota State contest in Saturday's second round of the NCAA Tournament in Omaha.

The Bulldogs, who have been idle since earning the automatic qualifying berth by winning the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament on March 10 earned a No. 10 seed in the East Region. 

This will mark Drake's seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including the third during coach Darian DeVries' tenure at Drake. DeVries was on staff at Creighton University in Omaha from 1998-2018 prior to accepting the head coach position at Drake.

The Bulldogs own a 28-6 record  — matching the single-season wins record in school history.