The difference between these Shockers and those Rams: VCU, which lost four of its final five regular-season games, probably belonged on its seed line.
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“This time of year I could stay up all day, it doesn’t matter”, he said.
Only it was the team that will be advancing in the NCAA tournament by beating Arizona 65-55 on Thursday.
Next up is a second-round game against Miami (26-7), the third seed in the South, on Saturday. No one including myself had a good feeling about this game and with good reason. Whoever wins that battle will likely have the edge.
Every NCAA Tournament game will be available on TBS, CBS, TNT or truTV, online via live stream and on mobile with the March Madness Live app. That is just unreal.
Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall hummed out the lyrics “You don’t want to go to war, with the Shockers” as he passed out luggage to players, band members and Wichita State personnel at the tarmac of a New Jersey area airport. Seton Hall shot just 32.3 percent from the field, with star guard Isaiah Whitehead going 4-for-24 and 0-for-10 from 3-point range… “When you mis-seed a team, it’s not that team you hurt”.
Arizona will finish the season at 25-9 and has been ousted in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.
Sheldon McClellan had 20 points and five rebounds. There aren’t too many backcourts that will steal the national thunder from these two, but Van Vleet and Baker just might. The No. 3 seeded Hurricanes beat Buffalo earlier Thursday. They won’t back down against anyone, and Van Vleet and Baker aren’t ready for their seasons to be over. The Shockers also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Wichita State could be even better than Virginia defensively and that could pose big problems for Miami. In fact, after the win, the Shockers are now ranked 8th in KenPom.com’s team rankings, 12 spots ahead of Arizona. 88 points per possession with San Diego State second at.899. A No. 11 ranking by kenpom.com likely provided statistical support for WSU’s at-large resume and it is No. 1 in defensive efficiency.
One of those games that could be very competitive is the No. 11 Wichita State Shockers taking on the No. 6 Arizona Wildcats on Thursday. We were that a couple years ago, and to me it felt like that. It’s also worth noting that they got saddled with a matchup they didn’t deserve in the first round given the Shockers’ talent level. This run was ended by a York 3, his first points of the game.
Now they’re being asked to turn around and play a game in 36 hours at 12:10pm ET, presumably because Wichita State-Miami doesn’t have the ratings pull of other matchups.
Nevertheless, the Shockers were selected, seeded as an 11-seed, then kindly plucked in the First Four to play a good Vanderbilt Commodores team.
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The Eagles (21-13) dominated much of Tuesday’s game. This season, the selection committee fouled up Wichita State royally.
