by PROVIDENCE, R.I. – From nearly start to finish, No. 11 Wichita State completely overpowered No. 6 Arizona in a 65-55 win Thursday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Shockers advance to the second round where they will meet No. 3 Miami on Saturday for a berth in the Sweet 16 in Louisville, Ky.
Wichita State (26-8) becomes another team to record a first round win after appearing in the NCAA Tournament First Four. Since 2011, at-large teams that advance from Dayton are 6-5 against their round of 64 opponents. Arizona (25-9) suffered its first double-digit loss since Jan. 24, 2013 – an 84-73 loss to UCLA.
The win marked another milestone achievement for Fred VanVleet, who moved into a tie with former Shocker Tekele Cotton for the most wins (120) in school and Missouri Valley Conference history. He finished with a game-high 16 points to go with five steals and four rebounds. He is one steal shy of tying the school record for career steals.
Ron Baker (Citizen Potawatomi) added 13 points, six assists and five rebounds on 6-of-13 shooting. Key contributions off the bench once again came fromMarkis McDuffie and Conner Frankamp who each added 10 points. McDuffie also added four boards and two steals, while Frankamp claimed two blocked shots.
WSU shot 41 percent from the floor, but made only 3-of-20 attempts from three-point range. The story was the Shocker defense for much of the game, forcing 19 turnovers – nine of which were steals. Arizona managed to get back to a respectable shooting percentage at 42 percent for the game.
Kadeem Allen led the Wildcats with 11 points, while Gabe York and Alonzo Trier chipped in 10 apiece. Ryan Anderson and Kaleb Tarczewski grabbed 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
The Shocker defense asserted itself early on, as WSU got out to a 12-7 lead near the halfway mark of the first half. During a 6-0 run, Arizona went 0-of-8 from the field and scoreless for almost six minutes.
A Frankamp three-pointer and an offensive rebound and putback fromShaquille Morris gave Wichita State a 17-9 lead with less than eight minutes left in the half. Arizona could not get anything going offensively for the first 20 minutes. The Wildcats converted on just 3-of-15 attempts to start the game and turned the ball over five times.
VanVleet’s jumper with seven minutes to play put WSU up by 10, but back-to-back three’s from York and Trier pulled Arizona within four. The Shockers came right back. Five straight points from Baker, a steal and score from VanVleet and a layup from McDuffie pushed Wichita State’s lead to 12 (31-19) at the break.
WSU held Arizona to a season-low 19 first half points on just six made field goals to go with 10 turnovers. Arizona’s previous low for points in a first half was 25 in a win vs. Cal.
VanVleet scored 10 points in the first half, while Arizona was led by Trier with only seven. Wichita State shot 41 percent from the field, despite hitting 2-of-14 attempts from beyond the arc.
Right out of the locker room to start the second half, Wichita State increased its lead to 16 after a Zach Brown score following a steal from VanVleet and two VanVleet free throws.
With 13:38 remaining, Morris received a pass from Baker and threw down a two-hand slam plus the foul to give WSU a 46-27 lead. Not even a minute later, Arizona was completely on the brink of elimination. Frankamp drained a three-pointer and hit two free throws after Arizona head coach Sean Miller picked up a technical and then Baker swished a jumper to extend WSU’s lead to 53-29.
The Wildcats finally showed signs of life as they drew within 13, 53-40, after an 11-0 run at the 7:48 mark. Following a basket plus the foul for McDuffie the Shockers were right back up 17 with less than five minutes to play.
Arizona continued to scratch and claw, as the Wildcats found themselves only down 11 with 2:30 to play. The lead crept into single digits, 60-51, with 1:36 to go. Arizona had a chance to draw even closer, but a Gabe York turnover proved costly with 1:00 on the clock.
Two VanVleet free throws essentially put the game on ice with 48 seconds remaining and an 11-point lead.
