Drake fans showed no mercy in the closing minute of their first-round upset over Missouri.
The SEC had a historic year in the NCAA Tournament, sending 14 teams to March Madness, but through the First Four and the first round of the tournament, three of those teams were eliminated, which included Mizzou — a No. 6 seed —♛ being knocked out.
The ⭕fans cheering on the Bulldogs inside Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan., weren’t about to let the Tigers, or anyone else for that matter, misunderstand their feelingౠs toward the SEC.
“Overrated SEC,” fans chanted repeatedly for several seconds whi🔴le Drake was on the foul line with just over 30 seconds left.
Drake — a member of the Missouri Valley Conference — won its first NCAA To𒀰urnament game since 1971 with a squad of playerౠs who mostly had played in Division II last year.
Drake coach Ben McCol💦lum was coaching DII Northwest Missouri State last year and this had been h💦is first year coaching in DI.
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He’s led Drake to 31-3 in his first year.
Drake point guard Bennett Stirtz led the team with ܫ16 points in the upset win, and he wowed with a ridiculous shot as the shot clock wound down in♚ the second half.
He crossed over a defender and sent up a running 3-pointer off a one-leg shot that sailed through the hoop to extend the Bulldogs’ lead 50-39.
“We just fought,” McCollum said to reporters after the game. “That’s what we have to do, is just continue to fight and continue to grind and continue to compete.
“Really proud of their effort. Really proud of their execution. Everybody that came in and everybody off the bench. It was certainly a fun atmosphere to be a part of.”
