Drake basketball vs. Missouri preview: 3 things to watch in the NCAA Tournament game
Drake and Missouri basketball were once familiar foes.
Between 1918 and 1929, the Bulldogs took on the Tigers nearly two dozen times. Matchups became a bit more sporadic after that, and the last time these two teams faced off was in December 1987 – a game which Missouri won, 74-76.
But – to state the obvious – that occurred decades ago, and these are two very different teams in 2025.
Led by first-year head coach Ben McCollum and behind junior guard Bennett Stirtz – the only player in Division I to lead his conference in points, assists and steals – No. 11-seeded Drake is set to compete in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year.
The Bulldogs’ game against No. 6 Missouri tips off at 6:35 p.m. CT on Thursday.
Here are three things to watch in Drake’s matchup against the Tigers.
Missouri boasts eight players with tournament experience; Drake’s roster features only one
Aidan Shaw is the only current Missouri player who was on the team during the Tigers’ last Tournament run in 2023. But he isn’t the only player with experience playing in March Madness.
Caleb Grill – who transferred to Missouri from Iowa State – made it to the Sweet 16 in 2022. Mark Mitchell made it to the Elite Eight with Duke last season.
Tamar Bates appeared in the Tournament with Indiana, Josh Gray with South Carolina, Tony Perkins with Iowa, Jeremy Sanchez with Cleveland State and Marques Warrick with Northern Kentucky.
Only one Bulldogs player – Nate Ferguson, one of two holdovers from the Darian DeVries era – has experience playing in the NCAA Tournament. Ferguson registered seven minutes, two points and one rebound against Miami in 2023 and 16 minutes with two points and three rebounds against Washington State in 2024.
Now, that’s to say that one Drake player has Division I tournament experience.
Of the four players – Stirtz, Daniel Abreu, Isaiah Jackson and Mitch Mascari – that McCollum brought with him to Des Moines, the latter three won two Division II national championships (2021, 2022). Abreu, Jackson and Mascari boast an impressive 14-2 record in NCAA Tournament play.
And Stirtz, the former Northwest Missouri State player with the least tournament experience, leads the team in several statistical categories. That’s to say: This Bulldogs’ squad knows what it’s like to play in and win in tournament environments.
Thursday's game will show how impactful that experience – or lack thereof – will be. For some teams, the tournament can be viewed as a blank slate. But for others, understanding the grind of playing in March Madness might be an advantage.
Will the Bulldogs’ experience against another SEC team help against Missouri?
Drake played one game against an SEC opponent this season, taking on Vanderbilt in the championship game of the Charleston Classic. The Bulldogs came away with the win, 81-70, in that one.
Missouri split its regular season series with the Commodores: beating Vanderbilt, 75-66, in mid-January before losing to the same team, 93-97, in overtime at the beginning of March.
But this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Drake played Vanderbilt in an early-season, non-conference matchup. The Tigers took on the Commodores twice as part of their regular conference schedule. McCollum isn’t naive to that fact.
“Mizzou is just a different level of power and physicality and athleticism and all those things,” McCollum said. “It’s hard to simulate that stuff. You just have to have a plan and hope the plan works out.”
Drake is at a serious size disadvantage against Missouri
Missouri’s shortest starter, Anthony Robinson II, measures 6-foot-3. The tallest player in the Tigers’ starting five is Josh Gray, coming in at 7-foot exactly. That’s a bit of a contrast to Drake, with 6-foot-8 Cam Manyawu being the tallest starter and no player on the roster standing close to Gray’s height.
On paper, that is an obvious disadvantage in a sport in which height is king. But the Bulldogs have faced teams with size – like Vanderbilt or Kansas State – and Drake is focused on what its done best all year, defense.
“It’s more so just doing what we do on defense,” Mascari said. “We’re pretty active with our hands, we’re pretty physical. We like to box out and get them out and let our rebounders get a board.
“When it comes down to size, you can only control what you can control. When it comes down to it, it’s just our habits that we need to focus on.”
Drake basketball vs. Missouri NCAA Tournament prediction in March Madness first round
The Tigers' height could provide a serious advantage, but Missouri's also lost four of its last five games. If Mascari gets his 3-pointers to fall - like the eight he made against Kansas State - and someone, in addition to Stirtz, gets going, the Bulldogs could make things interesting.
Add in defense and a track record of success in tournaments, and Drake looks like the team poised to pull off the upset.
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 vs. Missouri preview: 3 things to watch in March Madness game
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