Drake men's basketball to face Miami in first round of NCAA Tournament in Albany
Drake men's basketball will face No. 5 seed Miami in Albany in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs enter the tournament as the No. 12 seed in the Midwest Region. Drake and Miami will play on Friday at 7:25 p.m. ET/6:25 p.m. CT on TBS.
“For us, it’s been a long week, waiting to see who we play,” Drake coach Darian DeVries said. “Now we know who it is and super excited just to be a part of it. Playing a very good Miami team that won the ACC, so we know we have a big challenge in front of us.”
This is the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance for Drake, with the Bulldogs last making it to March Madness in 2021. Drake was a No. 11 seed in that appearance, beating Wichita State in the play-in to advance to the first round. The Bulldogs lost to USC in the first round.
Drake finished third in 1969, beating North Carolina, 104-84 in the consolation game. The Bulldogs made Elite Eight appearances in 1970 and 1971. Drake also made it to the tournament in 2008 but lost in overtime to Western Kentucky in the first round.
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Drake enters the tournament with a 27-7 record and a 15-5 record in conference play. The Bulldogs have won their last three games – including the Missouri Valley Conference championship over Bradley to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs have a 16-4 record since the beginning of the new year.
Miami is 25-7 and tied for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship with a 15-5 record. The Hurricanes lost to Duke 85-78 in the ACC semifinals. Isaiah Wong is their leading scorer at 16.2 points per game.
“I thought this last month of the season we were playing some of our best basketball,” DeVries said. “We were fully healthy and have made it all the way through the season healthy and that’s a good feeling too.”
The winner of the Drake-Miami game will play the winner of the Indiana-Kent State contest in Sunday's second round of the NCAA Tournament. The first and second round games will be played at MVP Arena in Albany.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake and Miami basketball will face off in March Madness first round
