Updated Drake vs. Wichita State Odds: Spread, Analysis For 2021 NCAA Tournament Play-In Game

#11 Drake vs. #11 Wichita State Odds

How Drake & Wichita State Match Up

Instant Analysis for Wichita State-Drake

Given the chaos that surrounded Wichita State in November, this is a well-earned at-large bid for the Shockers.

They finished first in the AAC with an 11-2 record and earned valuable Quad I wins over Houston and at Ole Miss.

They will face a Drake team that battled through key injuries to star point guard Roman Penn (left foot) and are still awaiting the return of leading-scorer ShanQuan Hemphill (foot surgery).

The defensive-oriented Shockers held AAC opponents to just 28.9% from 3, while the Bulldogs shot almost 37% from beyond the arc. This is a matchup between two of the great stories of the 2020-2021 season squaring off in the first round. — Mike Randle

What To Know About Drake

Drake began the season as the country's betting darling, opening the year 18-0 straight up and covering 17 of those. But then an injury sidelined leading-scorer ShanQuan Hemphill against Northern Iowa on Feb. 10, and he hasn’t played since.

Hemphill was the Bulldogs’ top offensive weapon who could create his own offense when needed as well as the team's second-leading rebounder. He was shooting 58.7% from the field if you want to know more about his efficiency. Drake then lost starting point guard Roman Penn for the season although dynamic super sophomore Joseph Yesufu has been dynamite since Penn went down.

The Bulldogs still have the 19th-most efficient offense in the country, per KenPom, but they rank 53rd overall in net efficiency. There was hope Hemphill would be back for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, but that did not happen and Drake fell to a strong Loyola Chicago team. Without Hemphill, the ceiling is much lower and there's little hope for the Bulldogs to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, especially since they'll likely face a top team as soon as the second round.

Head coach Darian Devries is still an excellent coach who will have a few tricks up his sleeve defensively and the Drake offense will still generate good looks, but the Bulldogs simply aren't working with a full deck anymore. — Matt Trebby

What To Know About Wichita State

I love sophomore Tyson Etienne, but this Wichita State is severely flawed.

Most remember the Shockers' win over Houston, but that's just one game. They are also the team that went 10-1 in games decided by five points or fewer (2-0 in OT) before their luck finally ran out in a bad one-point loss to a Cincy team that had lost its best player in the first half.

Their offense is very inefficient if the 3s aren't fouling and they aren't getting to the line. They have strong guards, so they won't turn it over much and can do damage on the offensive glass, but it's just an average overall offense. I'm a bigger fan of the defense, but Wichita doesn't turn teams over and is vulnerable against good offensive rebounding teams.

Anything can happen in one-game scenarios but I can't see this Wichita team making any sort of significant run unless the inconsistent Alterique Gilbert and Dexter Dennis join the torrid Etienne with some insane outside shooting. However, their numbers suggest that's highly unlikely. — Stuckey