The Drake Bulldogs capped off a historic season by playing two games in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Their first game played was against the University of Missouri Tigers, with the Bulldogs winning by a score of 67-57. This marked the Bulldogs’ first win in the tournament since 2021, when they beat the Wichita State Shockers in the First Four.

Their final game was played against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, where they lost by a score of 77-63.

11-seeded Bulldogs upset six-seeded Tigers

The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 67-57 in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

In their third straight March Madness appearance, the Bulldogs beat the Tigers on March 20. This was the Bulldogs’ first time advancing to the Round of 32 in 54 years.

The Bulldogs starting lineup, written by Head Coach Ben McCollum, consisted of graduate student Daniel Abreu at forward, sophomore Cam Manyawu at forward, graduate student Mitch Mascari at guard, junior Bennett Stirtz at guard, and graduate student Isaiah Jackson at guard.

After the first half, the Bulldogs were in control, leading by a score of 30-23. The Bulldogs re-established control in the second half, expanding their lead up to 15 points.

The Tigers closed the gap by cutting their deficit to only one point, but the Bulldogs were able to rebuild a sizable lead to end the game. This was the Bulldogs’ first win against the Tigers since Dec. 23, 1952.

The top performers for the Bulldogs included Stirtz, who played all 40 minutes, recorded 21 points and made all three-point shots attempted. The Bulldogs bench recorded 26 total points, with junior Tavion Banks leading the charge with 15 points.

This game marked McCollum’s first NCAA Tournament win at the Division I level. As head coach at Northwest Missouri State University, he saw great success at the Division II level, both during the regular season and the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Over 15 seasons as head coach for the Bearcats, McCollum assembled a record of 395-91, while also recording an overall conference record of 241-63. In 11 tournament appearances, he won four national championships at the Division II level.

Bulldogs’ tournament run ends with a loss to Red Raiders

The Bulldogs were defeated by the Texas Tech Red Raiders by 77-64 during the Round of 32 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

In their first Round of 32 in 54 years, the Bulldogs took on the Red Raiders on  March 22, at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

During the first half, the Bulldogs led 18-12 with 11:08 on the clock. They would eventually lose the lead to the Red Raiders with 8:46, on a jump shot made by sophomore forward JT Toppin.

After the first half, the Bulldogs trailed the Red Raiders by a score of 37-30. With a combined 53 points scored between Toppin and junior forward Darrion Williams, the Raiders kept the lead throughout the second half to advance to the Sweet 16.

McCollum reflected on the Bulldogs’ loss and the effort that his team gave during the game.

“We executed our game plan, unfortunately, their two bigs dribble down the whole game, it made very difficult on us to be able to consistently get stops,” McCollum said. “I’m proud of our kids, I’m proud of our season, proud of their effort.”

The Bulldogs’ top performers included Stirtz, who played all 40 minutes, scoring 21 points, while recording eight assists and three rebounds. Abreu recorded 15 points on five three-point field goals made, in addition to tallying three rebounds and two assists.

Off the bench, the Bulldogs recorded 24 total points. Sophomore Kael Combs recorded 13 of those points, while Banks scored 11.

This game also marked the last game for graduate students Abreu, Jackson and Mascari and senior Nate Ferguson. When asked by The Times-Delphic, Mascari reflected on what this season meant to him.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better year,” Mascari said. “The way that this whole team has bought into each other and the way we fought for each other, only being together for one year has been really special.”

The Bulldogs finished the season with 31 wins, a program record, and four losses. It marks the second time in program history that the Bulldogs won the Missouri Valley Conference division title while also winning the MVC Championship. The other instance happened in 2008, when the Bulldogs recorded 28 wins and five losses under Head Coach Keno Davis.

On top of their record, 2025 was the third season in a row where the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year was a Bulldog. Stirtz took home the honors before the MVC tournament commenced, joining the likes of Jeff Halliburton, Lewis Lloyd, Curt Smith, Adam Emmenecker and Tucker DeVries as the only Bulldogs to win the award.

McCollum also won MVC Coach of the Year for the 2025 season, joining Keno Davis and Darian DeVries as the only Drake coaches to win the award.

After the game, Stirtz discussed his relationship with Mascari and the other seniors he transferred to Drake with from Northwest Missouri State.

“All these seniors, we were all close together, coming from Northwest [Missouri State],” Stirtz said. “It still hasn’t hit me yet that we played our last game together. I’m sure it will, but I love playing with them.”