OMAHA, Neb.-- The Drake men's basketball team fell late to Washington State, 66-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the CHI Health Center on Thursday night.
"Congrats to Washington State on a hard-fought win," head coach Darian DeVries said. "Certainly it was a game that we felt like we had a chance and had gotten a cushion late in the game. I thought our guys played extremely hard and left it all out there. Unfortunately, we came up a little short."
Atin Wright tied for the game-high with 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field, while also grabbing two rebounds.
Tucker DeVries helped the scoring effort with 14 points and dishing six assists.
Darnell Brodie finished his Drake career with a 13 point and nine rebound outing.
After a slow start to the first half, Drake made the supportive crowd erupt with a 12-0 run, capped off by a
Darnell Brodie logo for a 21-15 lead with 9:02 left in the first half. Drake went on to miss eight of its next 3:34 to play until halftime. The Bulldogs headed into the locker room, trailing 33-29.
Drake came out firing all cylinders in the second half as the Bulldogs began with a 10-3 spurt over the first four minutes, highlighted by a Brodie slam. The stint was good for the Bulldogs' 26th double-digit run of the year.
"My years here at Drake have been absolutely amazing," Brodie said. "I'm thankful for my coaches and teammates for believing in me and for how far I came with them putting their trust in me and helping me get to where I'm at."
Wright crossed over his defender and drilled a midrange jumper forcing Cougar head coach Kyle Smith to spend a timeout with 7:47 remaining in regulation. Drake led 54-46 with 6:30 to go before Washington State embarked on a 7-0 run.
Conor Enright fed the ball to
Kevin Overton on the wing for a triple and 58-55 edge with 4:14 to play.
Brodie fouled with 2:26 left, while the Bulldogs attempted to cling on to a 58-57 advantage.
"That was tough for us," Darian DeVries said. "With their size and physicality, having Brodie out there is certainly helpful. Down the stretch we could have really used him, especially on the defensive end. Brodie had a really good second half too. We were able to get it inside a lot more in the second half and go to him a little bit more when he was on the floor."
Behind 61-59 with 34.8 seconds left ticking, Overton turned the ball over. Washington State proceeded to close out the game by going five-of-six from the free throw line the rest of the way in a 66-61 decision.
"This is a brand new team, a young team and we came so far," Brodie said. "We played as hard as we can, and that's all I could ask for as far as being a senior."
TEAM NOTES
- Drake, which had a five-game winning streak snapped, closed out the season with a 28-7 record, tying the school record for wins in a season.
- Drake's, suffering its third straight NCAA Tournament loss, has a 6-7 NCAA Tournament record including a 1-3 mark under coach Darian DeVries.
- Drake shot a season-low 42.9 percent from the free throw line, making six of 14 shots.
- Drake's five three-point baskets were its third lowest total of the season.
- Darian DeVries falls to 1-3 as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament.
- Drake finishes the 2023-24 campaign with a 28-7 mark, which ties the school record for wins in a season.
- Drake finished the season 4-5 when trailing at halftime.
- Washington State moved to 21-0 on the season when leading at halftime.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Atin Wright led the Bulldogs with 20 points, which was good for his ninth 20-plus point game and his 27th game in double figures as a Bulldog.
- Darnell Brodie tied a season-high with three blocked shots to wrap his Drake career with 83 total blocked shots.
- Darnell Brodie finishes his career with 915 rebounds at Drake, two shy of Garrett Sturtz's program record (917 from 2018-23).
- Tucker DeVries scored 14 points, marking his 33rd appearance in double figures this season.
- DeVries dished out a game-high six assists, his 10th games this season with five or more assists.
- Freshman guard Colby Garland racked up 3 steals, which tied his season high.
THE SERIES
- This was the second-ever contest with the Cougars, and the first since 1935.
- Washington State leads the all-time series, 2-0.
