post game online story from the wichita paper....

[TJames]

Tournament over: Wichita State falls in Valley semifinals to Indiana State

BY PAUL SUELLENTROP
The Wichita Eagle

WSU loses to Indiana State 61-54 at MVC Tournament

ST. LOUIS — Wichita State possesses the most depth in the Missouri Valley Conference. The three-games-in-three-days format of the conference tournament seemed a perfect place to show off.

That depth doesn’t matter much if the starters don’t show up. The Shockers will wait for a spot in the National Invitation Tournament after losing 61-54 to third-seeded Indiana State on Saturday in the semifinals at Scottrade Center. Indiana State plays top-seeded Missouri State in today’s championship game.

“Too many turnovers,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “Too many missed shots.”

Many of those came from the starting lineup. Center J.T. Durley scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The other four — Aaron Ellis, Toure Murry, Graham Hatch and Joe Ragland — combined for six points, six rebounds and 2-of-19 shooting.

“That’s not good enough,” Marshall said.

The second-seeded Shockers (24-8) allowed the defense to keep them out of the lane and bait them into jump shots. Indiana State center Myles Walker muscled Durley and Garrett Stutz out of their comfort zones near the basket and didn’t require help to do it.

“I felt I could overpower them,” Walker said.

The Sycamores (19-13) turned the Shockers into a finesse team that couldn’t shoot (7 of 29 from three-point range) and didn’t get to the foul line (7 of 9). Ragland, who can loosen up defenses with drives, found paths to the hoop closed. With Walker discouraging points in the paint, the Sycamores happily watched the Shockers settle for outside shots.

“It definitely played to our advantage,” Indiana State guard Jake Odum said. “We wanted to focus on them kicking the ball out and shooting contested threes instead of getting easy buckets inside.”

That is just what WSU did during the game’s turning point. Down 44-41, the Shockers missed four straight threes. Indiana State made its three shots in that stretch to lead 51-41.

“It’s hard to stay composed with the momentum going back and forth,” WSU junior David Kyles said. “We took 29 threes and didn’t even knock down 10. We just didn’t hit shots.”

Walker, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound junior, scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

“He worked hard on the offensive end and got deep post touches,” Durley said. “When you get it that deep, it’s stress on the defense.”

WSU wasted its chance early in the second half to put stress on the Sycamores. Durley’s three-point play 34 seconds into the half gave WSU a 30-22 lead. The Shockers didn’t score again until Kyles made a free throw with 14:28 to play. They didn’t make a basket until Kyles’ three with 12:37 to play cut Indiana State’s lead to 40-34.

Odum played the difference-maker during that stretch. He intercepted a pass by Murry and scored to cut WSU’s lead to 30-27. He stole another pass, then took a charge from Ragland that lead to basket by Walker and a 31-30 lead. The Sycamores never trailed again.

“We wanted to come out in the second half, have energy, and set the tone,” Odum said. “They have a lot of talent, a lot of athleticism and we were just focusing on getting stops.”

The Shockers, as they did in a loss at Missouri State a week ago, started making shots in desperation time. Hatch’s three cut Indiana State’s lead to 55-49. Kyles made one to give the Shockers hope, down 57-54, with 31 seconds to play. The Sycamores made four straight free throws and the Shockers didn’t score again.

WSU swept the Sycamores in the regular season, so coach Greg Lansing knew things needed to change. WSU must supplement its half-court offense with layups and open shots off turnovers and rebounds. Keep the Shockers playing slow, and they struggle.

“They are so good in transition,” Lansing said. “We talked about it a lot at halftime: Don’t give them transition baskets and you’ll like the results.”

That’s a fitting description of almost every loss this season for WSU.

 

[TJames]

post game online column from the wichita paper....

Bob Lutz: Shockers let down believers

BY BOB LUTZ
The Wichita Eagle

ST. LOUIS — Every year, Wichita State basketball fans convoy here on I-70 with the hope it will finally be the year their Shockers win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

And every year, the return trip is a sad journey.

This year is no different. Wichita State, with more than 2,000 black-and-yellow clad fans pleading for a breakthrough, played a like a team that doesn’t belong anywhere near an NCAA Tournament in losing to Indiana State 61-54 Saturday.

The Sycamores are a decent team with a much-more-than-decent freshman point guard, Jake Odum. But Wichita State beat Indiana State twice during the regular season, including a triple-overtime victory at Koch Arena. In the last meeting between the two, the Shockers won convincingly, 70-54, before 2,913 on a snowy night in Terre Haute.

WSU should beat Indiana State. This Shocker team was picked to win the Valley regular season, but fell short by a game. They have a 24-8 record, but not a lot to show for it. It looks like another NIT beckons, but isn’t the NIT so, like, yesterday for WSU?

A much-anticipated re-match with Missouri State in the tournament championship game isn’t going to happen. The Bears have battled back to win tough games against Southern Illinois and Creighton this weekend. Targeted as the No. 1 seed, Missouri State has had to fend off challenges and done so.

WSU, though, wilted. After scoring the game’s first seven points and leading 18-7 early, the Shockers flattened out.

And Indiana State, to its credit, kept fighting. It was an impressive performance by the Sycamores and their first-year coach, Greg Lansing. The 6-foot-4 Odum is a jewel, especially running Indiana State’s offense. When he was out of the game, sludge developed quickly in the Sycamores’ engine.

The Shockers, meanwhile, failed to take proper advantage of their big edge in size. Nearly half of their 59 shots were three-pointers, which was totally out of proportion. WSU’s big guys, led by J.T. Durley, were a combined 12 of 26 from the floor. Durley made 7 of 13 shots and probably should have been even more of a focal point.

Instead, WSU jacked up 29 three-pointers and made seven. Four Shocker starters — Aaron Ellis, Joe Ragland, Graham Hatch and Toure Murry — combined for six points on 2-of-19 shooting.

Again, the Shockers’ perceived depth came back to bite them. I thought the depth, which was so effective earlier in the season, would provide a catapult into the NCAA Tournament. Instead, it became an unmanageable nuisance, to the point where I wonder whether Marshall had any feel for who was going to give him what and when they were going to give it.

Something isn’t right when four starters combine for six points in the biggest game of the season. Especially not when two seniors and two juniors are among those starters. To be a good team, players like that have to produce in the clutch. It didn’t happen.

The biggest mystery surrounds Murry, who has been so important to WSU during his career and even made the All-Valley second team this season. During a three-game stretch in early February, Murry combined for 44 points and 26 rebounds. Since, he’s made 7 of 40 shots (17.5 percent) and looked uncomfortable with the ball in his hands. His defense has been good, but you can see his frustration every time he misses a shot.

“If I knew, I would try to help him correct it more,’’ Marshall said when asked about the reason for Murry’s slump. “We talk to him about it to try and figure out how we can help him. So far we haven’t been able to come up with it. So that’s a mystery right now.’’

But nothing like the mystery of St. Louis, where the Shockers have failed to win it all over a stretch of 21 years. Last year, they made the final before losing to Northern Iowa. This time, though, everybody felt it. The Shockers were going to come here and take out their revenge on Missouri State after losing twice to the Bears during the regular season. It was such a sweet scenario.

And it won’t happen. Instead, we’re all left to scratch our heads and wonder how such a talented, deep and big team can come up short against Indiana State.

During its toughest times this season, the Shockers played their worst. They lost home games they shouldn’t have lost because they didn’t make plays when they needed to make plays.

If that stuff happens once or twice, you chalk it up to circumstances. But you don’t get that luxury if it happens time and time again.

This is an easy team to like, but one that tests patience. It’s fair to wonder whether the right strings are being pulled. Or whether there are too many strings to pull.

A box score provides illumination.

Murry and junior David Kyles each played 20 minutes. Should Kyles have played more based on his play?

Aaron Ellis played 19 minutes, scored no points and had one rebound.

Gabe Blair played 21 minutes with six points and eight rebounds. Should he have played more?

Graham Hatch played 24 minutes and made one shot in six attempts. Ben Smith played 16 minutes and scored eight points.

When all 10 players, or most of them, were producing, depth was a really good thing. But when only three or four are doing much, as was the case Saturday and has been the case often lately, it’s fair to wonder if the very thing that used to set your team apart made it ordinary.

 

[TJames]

post game online mvc notes story from the wichita paper....

MVC notebook: Sycamores enjoying extended visit

BY PAUL SUELLENTROP
The Wichita Eagle

ST. LOUIS — Indiana State spoiled the Missouri Valley Conference’s marquee matchup on CBS.

Instead to the two top seeds battling again, the story is the underdog Sycamores in the title game for the first time since 2001.

Indiana State’s senior class is enjoying a longer stay in St. Louis.

“We’ve never even made it to Saturday,” guard Aaron Carter said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

They are playing on a Sunday after beating two teams they went 0-4 against during the regular season.

“When we first started out here, we had three games to go,” Sycamores center Myles Walker said. “We got one knocked out of the way against Evansville. They whooped us twice in the conference, same as Wichita State. Now we’re coming to get Missouri State.”

While the Sycamores finished third, it was a solid third. They finished three games behind top-seeded Missouri State, today’s opponent with an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament at stake. They finished two games behind Wichita State and the Shockers swept the regular-season meetings. The Sycamores lost five straight games in late January and early February, removing them from the title race.

In March, they’re back in it.

“We’ve talked about this since we had our losing stretch, that we were going to compete and get better and we were going to fight for each other every day,” coach Greg Lansing said.

The Sycamores split two games with Missouri State, winning 70-69 at home and losing 73-66 at JQH Arena.

If they Sycamores own an edge, it is in depth. On Saturday, they played eight players 12 or more minutes. Missouri State starter rarely sit — they all played 30 or more minutes in Saturday’s win over Creighton. Four of them played 34 or more in Friday’s win over Southern Illinois.

“They’ve shown they can handle it,” Lansing said. “That’s a tough, physical group.”

Bears coach Cuonzo Martin said he thinks his team doesn’t need to win today. Most bracket projections disagree for a team with a No. 41 RPI and a 2-1 record against the top 50.

“I think we’re already in the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. We move on.”

Indiana State is in the title game for the first time since 2001. MSU returns for the eighth time and the first since 2005.

Play them and beat them — The scheduling mandate for men’s basketball programs is remembered with great nostalgia. It is seen as a driving force behind the Valley’s success early in the 2000s.

While there is some truth to that, it’s also true that the scheduling mandate existed for two seasons and ended in 2002. In those seasons, the non-conference opponents of Valley teams needed to reach a combined average power rating of 150 or better to receive its share of NCAA Tournament money the conference is awarded each spring.

Commissioner Doug Elgin doesn’t expect a return to anything similar. Coaches labeled the rule a job-killer, part of the reason it expired. It also seemed that schools no longer needed the prompting.

“You want a buy-in,” Elgin said. “You don’t necessarily want this to be viewed as punitive. It’s hard, because you have the adversarial push-and-pull of job security, of patience in rebuilding programs.”

Elgin is hopeful non-conference schedules will improve, and knows it’s critical for the MVC to regain power. Five of the MVC’s 10 schools ranked 200 or lower in non-conference strength of schedule. The Mountain West Conference-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge Series helps. Coaches who entered the Valley three or four seasons ago should be in position to schedule stronger, although that doesn’t always happen.

“We need to be cognizant of the linkage between good, strong non-conference schedules and being in the hunt for at-large bids,” Elgin said. “We do have to keep an eye on what it’s going to take for the league to get back to a point where it’s considered one of the top eight leagues in the nation.”

Elgin recognizes it’s easy for him to urge for tougher opponents from the safety of St. Louis. It’s the coaches who put their jobs on the line. There needs to be a realization that bad schedules hurt the entire MVC and that smart, aggressive scheduling can help. NCAA Tournament revenues provide about 70 percent of the conference budget.

Of course, a tough schedule is meaningless without victories.

“You don’t want to go out and over-schedule,” he said. “It’s schedules you can handle. We have to be discerning. If you a lot of institutions with poor non-conference schedule strength, it begins to hurt everybody.”

TV talk — The MVC is in the final year of its deal with ESPN and is in discussions for the future.

The current package provides four games on ESPN2 and at least eight men’s basketball games on ESPNU. ESPN sells the rights to the tournament title game to CBS. The contract also calls for participation in BracketBusters, one reason the MVC is married to that event.

The MVC negotiated from a position of strength in 2005 and 2006. That changed with a drought of at-large bids and a drop in RPI in recent seasons. With ESPN’s big-ticket deals with the SEC and ACC, slots could be harder to come by for the MVC and other smaller conferences.

“We’re hoping to maintain what we have, at least,” Elgin said.

Worth noting — Wes Leonard, the Fennville (Mich.) basketball player who died of cardiac arrest Thursday, is a cousin to Missouri State senior Adam Leonard. Wes Leonard, 16, collapsed on the court after his lay-up gave Fennville a 57-55 win in overtime over Bridgman. Adam Leonard is from Lee’s Summit, Mo.æ.æ.æ. Creighton fan Tyler Anderson, from Milwaukee, is the tournament’s one-millionth fan, as calculated by the conference office. Anderson, a 2010 graduate, entered the Scottrade Center at 12:32 p.m. He wins two all-session tickets for life and a framed jersey.

 

[-Z-]

70-54, before 2,913 on a snowy night in Terre Haute.

Umm, Bob? Nice little dig about the attendance but it wasn't a snowy night. IT WAS A FRIGGING ICE STORM! People across the county were losing their power. Trees were falling. A STAGE 1 EMERGENCY had been declared and people were told to stay off the roads.

But of course the MVC told ISU the game had to be played as not to inconvenience the Shockers.

 

[bent20]

I love the stuff about WSU's depth and how they repeatedly ignore the opponent. We played 10 guys for significant minutes and got quite a bit from our bench again. Whatever though, just explains why our guys didn't get more recognition for awards. No one is paying attention.

 

[BrokerZ]

I love how ISU apparently didn't win the game last night. WSU just lost. Not much credit was given to the Trees, but I suppose that's par for the course.