Saturday afternoon at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, the Wichita State Shockers beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 74-60 in a hard fought game giving the Shockers the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title for the second consecutive year and avenging their only conference defeat of the season. The Shockers were led by their backcourt duo of Fred van Vleet and Ron Baker who scored 13 and 17 points respectively and each finished with 7 assists against 0 turnovers. As a team, the Shockers only turned the ball over 3 times, a key factor in their ability to dismantle the Panthers fourth ranked scoring defense in the country that came into the game allowing only 53.9 points per game (stats courtesy of ESPN.com). The Panthers were paced by National Player of the Year candidate Seth Tuttle who finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists and played a key role, along with Paul Jesperson, in cutting a double digit deficit down to 4 in the second half. In the end, the steady play and shot making of Van Vleet and Baker and the clutch contributions of seniors Evan Wessel and Takele Cotton playing in their last home game proved to be too much to overcome.
Spurred on by a raucous home crowd at “The Roundhouse”, the Shockers came out playing their trademark aggressive defense, hedging on high screens, overplaying passing lanes, digging down with active hands into the post, and applying token full court pressure. They capitalized on a hot start by Baker who hit a couple of early 3’s to jump to a quick lead. The Panthers, however, were able to weather the early storm by getting the ball inside and playing their own brand of aggressive defense, doubling the post on every touch and rotating to the outside shooters. This scrambling left them susceptible to the Shockers crashing the offensive boards and led to several putbacks and open 3’s, but they were able to keep the game within reach for most of the first half.
A turning point in the game occurred late in the first half with the Shockers up by 4, when, with the shot clock winding down, Cotton got the ball deep on the left side wing and drilled a 3 from about 10 feet beyond the arc. On the following Panthers possession, he jumped into the passing lane for one of his three steals and Van Vleet came down and hit another three from the top of the key to push the lead to double digits. After two Van Vleet free throws, the Shockers entered the half with a 38-26 lead.
The second half started at a frenetic pace that played into the hands of the Shockers (NIU came in playing at the second slowest pace in the nation), and Wichita State’s lead grew to 18 by the 15 minute mark in the second half. The Panthers then began to chip away by getting stops on the defensive end and focusing on getting Tuttle involved on offense, both in the post and in pick and rolls. On several occasions he was able to draw double teams in the post and use his excellent vision and passing abilities (he entered the game leading the team in assists from the 5 position) to find open shooters on the perimeter. Jesperson scored all 8 of his points on long jump shots in relatively quick succession and another reserve guard Wes Washpun drilled a 3 at the 9:17 mark to cut the lead to 4. The run showcased the depth of the Panthers team whose bench outscored the Shockers bench 20-11. The Shockers then mostly abandoned their practice of doubling Tuttle in the post which allowed him to consistently get deep in the paint and score down low against the variety of defenders Shockers coach Greg Marshall was throwing at him, none of whom could match Tuttle’s combination of size and quickness.
Four points was the closest that the Panthers would get as the Cotton and Van Vleet found Wessel for back to back 3’s from the left corner and Baker found Van Vleet for another triple to push the lead to back to 10. In the final minutes of the game Cotton provided an exclamation point in the form of a huge windmill dunk off a long pass from Van Vleet.
Given each team’s dominance over the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference this year and their relatively convincing victories on their home courts, it would be surprising and unfortunate if they did not meet again in the tournament final. Despite their exceptional records (WSU: 27-3, 17-1. NIU: 27-3, 17-2) and high rankings in the AP poll (they entered the game at 11th and 10th respectively), neither team is likely to receive better than a 4th seed in the tournament according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, regardless of their showing in the conference tournament due to their lack of quality wins. Whether this lack of top competition will hurt them come tournament time is up for debate, but after losing in the second round of last year’s tournament as a 1 seed, the Shockers are likely not too concerned with where they are slotted. They have a wealth of talent and tournament experience in their backcourt, and regardless of their seed will believe that they can make a deep tournament run. As for the Panthers, losing in Wichita where the Shockers have now won 32 consecutive games, although disheartening given the magnitude of the game, is nothing to be ashamed of. They have shown all year that they are a great defensive team and if Tuttle can continue his exceptional level of play there is no reason they too cannot match their unlikely Sweet Sixteen run from 2010.