State champs
Wichita State takes out second-seeded Kansas
OMAHA, Neb. – The boys from Wichita State had been hearing it in text messages from friends, and on social media from total strangers: Don’t let the chance to stick it to Kansas slip away.
The Shockers would never dream of it.
Finally getting a chance to play the school that continually spurns them, Fred VanVleet and the rest of the Missouri Valley champs rolled to a 78-65 victory over the second-seeded Jayhawks on Sunday, earning a trip to the Sweet 16 in the sweetest way possible.
“There’s so much to be said about this rivalry with Kansas,” VanVleet said, “but really, it’s all about the fans. What better story is there for Wichita State?”
The Shockers have tried for years to schedule a game against Kansas, but the dominant school in the Sunflower State has always refused, arguing it would have nothing to gain from it.
After the beating they got Sunday, it’s no wonder the Jayhawks never want anything to do with Wichita State.
Tekele Cotton scored 19 points for the seventh-seeded Shockers (30-4), and VanVleet finished with 17. Evan Wessel hit four 3-pointers and scored 12, helping his team advance to Cleveland for a Midwest Regional semifinal against third-seeded Notre Dame.
“We don’t have McDonald’s All-Americans, we don’t have guys that have been in the spotlight, and been given that pedestal,” VanVleet said. “We work for everything we’ve got, from managers to coaches to our preacher to, you know, whoever. We’ve scrapped and fought our whole lives.”
They didn’t stop on Sunday. If anything, they scrapped harder.
“We’d been playing anybody else, it would have meant the same, advancing to the Sweet 16,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “It just so happens we played an in-state team to go where we wanted to go, and they were much better than us.”
Devonte’ Graham and Perry Ellis had 17 points each, and Frank Mason added 16 for the Jayhawks (27-9), who blew an early eight-point lead and never really threatened in the second half.
As the final seconds ticked away, VanVleet started riling up an already boisterous section of Shockers fans. And when the game ended, coach Gregg Marshall strode across the floor with a wry smile on his face, reaching out to shake hands with several of them.
Led by the calm, cool play of VanVleet at the point, and with Wessel knocking down just about every 3-pointer he tried, the Shockers had an answer for every salvo from the Big 12 champs.