Drake men’s basketball outlasts Kansas State in overtime thriller in Kansas City

Drake basketball player Bennett Stirtz broke the hearts of the team he grew up rooting for on Tuesday night.

Stirtz’s 3-pointer with 4 seconds left in overtime gave the Bulldogs a 73-70 victory over the Wildcats at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

Stirtz, a native of Liberty, Mo., and a lifelong K-State fan, scored 22 points to help Drake improve to 10-0. The Bulldogs are receiving votes in the national polls and turning heads in coach Ben McCollum’s first season at the helm.

Stirtz scored eight of Drake’s 10 points in overtime.

“It had everything to do with their toughness and their will to win,” McCollum said of the victory. “To Bennett specifically, I’ve had a lot of good guards, and I remember each of their ‘We’re not going to lose this game’ moments, and that was one of those moments. That says a lot about him and that says a lot about his teammates to trust him to be able to do that.”

Drake’s Mitch Mascari led all scorers with 25 points and went 8-for-10 from three-point range. Stirtz was next with 22 to go along with four assists, two rebounds and three steals. Cam Manyawu was the other Bulldog in double figures with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Mascari was 6-for-6 from 3-point distance in the first half.

The Bulldogs have crafted an impressive resume in non-conference play, beating Miami (Fla.), Vanderbilt and now Kansas State.

Drake is one of four Division I teams still undefeated (Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee are the others). The Bulldogs improved to 5-0 in games played away from home (4-0 neutral site, 1-0 road).

Drake will play host to Green Bay at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Knapp Center.

The Drake sports information department contributed to this report.