Drake vs. Missouri Box Score, stats, game summary and more ft. Bennett Stirtz

No. 11 seed Drake pulled an impressive upset by outlasting No. 6 seed Missouri in a first-round NCAA Tournament battle in Wichita, Kansas. The Bulldogs will face the winner of Texas Tech and UNC-Wilmington on Saturday.

Drake vs. Missouri Box Score

Drake

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
C. Manyawu	7	4	1	3	0	0	3	18
I. Jackson	3	4	3	0	0	3	0	17
B. Stirtz	21	1	4	1	0	4	3	40
M. Mascari	6	3	3	4	0	1	3	40
D. Abreu	4	3	2	0	0	1	3	19
T. Banks	15	9	0	3	3	1	4	25
K. Combs	4	5	4	1	0	4	3	23
I. Howard	7	0	1	1	0	0	1	17

Missouri

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
A. Robinson II	4	3	2	3	1	3	5	29
T. Bates	10	1	0	0	0	0	4	30
T. Perkins	7	0	0	0	0	4	1	14
M. Mitchell	8	8	2	1	0	2	3	35
C. Grill	14	4	0	4	0	0	2	35
M. Warrick	3	2	2	0	0	3	1	15
TO Barrett	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	10
T. Pierce	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	13
J. Gray	2	4	0	0	0	1	2	7
J. Crews	3	2	2	0	0	3	0	12

Drake vs. Missouri Game Summary

Missouri took an early 7-5 advantage, but Drake then scored the next eight points to take early control of the game. The Bulldogs finished that run with an Isaia Howard 3-pointer with 11:05 remaining in the first half.

Drake's lead fluctuated between two and 10 points for the remainder of the first half. The Bulldogs went to intermission with a 30-23 edge. Missouri shot just 33% in the first half as well as committing nine turnovers.

After the break, Drake pushed its lead to 43-28 on a Tavion Banks dunk with 12:40 to play. Missouri ran off a 10-0 spurt to pull within 52-51 with 4:28 to play. A Mark Mitchell dunk capped that rally.

Drake answered by reeling off the next six points and pushing its lead back into a comfortable margin. Missouri never closed within four points after that mark.

Drake was led by Bennett Stirtz with 21 points and four assists. Tavion Banks added 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs.

Caleb Grill led Missouri with 14 points and four steals. The only other Tiger who reached double figures in scoring was Tamar Bates with 10 points. Missouri finished the game shooting 33% overall and committing 17 turnovers.

With the victory, Drake will face the winner of Texas Tech and UNC-Wilmington. The Bulldogs reached the Final Four in 1969, but haven't won a round of 64 NCAA Tournament game ever, with their last successes being a 1971 NCAA win and a 2021 play-in game win.