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Washington State survives upset bid from Drake in a March Madness thriller

Kyle Smith and Co. were able to get the job done in Round 1

By Braulio Perez

Drake v Washington State
Drake v Washington State / Michael Reaves/GettyImages

The first round of the NCAA Tournament is here and goodness, there were some thrilling games for the opening day of action. This included a heartstopping showdown between No. 7 Washington State and No. 10 Drake in Omaha.

Drake was up late, but the Cougs were able to come away with an unreal 66-61 victory. There were some big-time shots hit in the final minutes, none bigger than this 3-pointer from WSU's Isaiah Watts, which gave Wazzu the lead for good.

Boom! With a little under two minutes to go, and WSU down by one, Watts drilled the three to put his team up 61-59. In the end, Drake tried to do everything possible to regain the lead, but the Cougs made the needed plays to move on to the second round.

This was the first NCAA Tournament win for Washington State since 2008 - that year they went to the Sweet Sixteen. Next up for Kyle Smith and his players will be a second-round matchup with No. 2 Iowa State.