NCAA Tournament: Drake basketball falters in second half, USC gradually pulls away for victory
Mark Emmert
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The spirit was willing but the legs were tired and weak.
The Drake men's basketball team battled with Southern Cal for one half of an NCAA Tournament matchup at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday, only to see their shots swatted away or bounce off the front of the rim in the second half of a 72-56 loss.
The Bulldogs missed on 21 of their first 24 shot attempts in the second half, seeming to wear down against the tallest team in the nation less than 48 hours after securing a landmark victory. The Trojans were playing their first game in the tournament, and emerged from the halftime locker room with nine minutes remaining on the clock carrying a narrow three-point lead but exuding confidence.
Drake got 26 points from sophomore point guard Joseph Yesufu in another brilliant performance. But none of his teammates scored more than six.
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The Trojans blocked five Drake shots and harried the Bulldogs into 13-for-44 shooting (29.5%) inside the 3-point arc. Yesufu connected on six 3-pointers, but the rest of the Bulldogs were 1-for-12 from that distance.
"We got tired and their length really caught up to us out of their zone," Yesufu said. "We just couldn't figure it out."
Eleventh-seeded Drake (26-5) advanced by beating Wichita State 53-52 on Thursday in Mackey Arena. That was the Bulldogs’ first NCAA Tournament win in 50 years.
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In that game, Drake’s offense was dormant for most of the first half. Not so on Saturday. Yesufu made five of his first six shots, four of them 3-pointers to keep the Bulldogs in the game early. His teammates fed off of that, and five of them followed with at least two points of their own. Yesufu had 18 by intermission, his star rising on college basketball's biggest stage.
Tank Hemphill came off the bench to provide six points. Garrett Sturtz had five, including a corner 3-pointer just ahead of the shot clock.
But Hemphill, coming off foot surgery, was unable to play in the second half, a 6-foot-6 senior presence the Bulldogs could have used.
Sixth-seeded USC (23-7) leaned on its size advantage, drawing 10 Drake fouls and making 17 of 32 first-half shots (53%). Trojans star Evan Mobley, a 7-foot freshman center who will be playing in the NBA next year, had 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in the first half.
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Drake, a veteran team with two seniors and three juniors in its primary rotation, never backed down. The Bulldogs held their own on the glass and worked patiently for good shots, committing only three turnovers in the first half.
The second half was a completely different story.
The Bulldogs were a step slow. The Trojans were a steep challenge. Too steep.
USC advances to face Kansas in the second round on Monday.
Mark Emmert covers the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Register. Reach him at memmert@registermedia.com or 319-339-7367. Follow him on Twitter at @MarkEmmert.