Omaha Pod Recap
In Omaha yesterday we had a battle for the Sunflower State and a rematch from last year’s round of 32. Both games had excitement, but the excitement wasn’t equal depending on which side your loyalties were. Two Sweet 16 spots, one each in the West and Midwest Regions, were at stake in Sunday’s games.
Midwest Region
#2 Kansas vs #7 Wichita State
West Region
#1 Wisconsin vs #8 Oregon
In the first game Kansas (27-9) took on Wichita State (30-4). Kansas has repeatedly denied Wichita State’s request to play home and homes. Bill Self stated he likes to play non-conference games in big cities like New York, Chicago, L.A., etc.
In the back of his mind, it is clear that his line of thinking is that Kansas does not need to play the Shockers, because it would not benefit them if they won, and it would hurt them if they lost. All that being said, Self and Kansas could not duck this game, and with both teams’ wins on Friday, it meant that at last, basketball fans in the state of Kansas and the nation would finally get to see these two teams play.
After the absolute woodshed beating the Shockers gave the Jayhawks Sunday evening, we may now know with certainty why Kansas has refused to play them.
“There’s so much to be said about this rivalry with Kansas,” Fred VanVleet said, “but really, it’s all about the fans. What better story is there for Wichita State?
“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.”
Scrapped and fought they did on Sunday as the Wheat Shockers steamrolled Kansas 78-65 to move to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years after making a run to the 2013 Final Four.
“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.”
In the first half, the Shockers seemed to want it more than to actually execute the game plan. On Friday against Indiana, the Shockers had seven turnovers total. In the first half against the Jayhawks, they had that many in the first half alone. The game seemed to change when VanVleet accidentally elbowed Perry Ellis’ nose, and Ellis was forced to leave the floor.
From that point, the Shockers pounced. Down by 24-16 at that point, Wichita State did not let the Jayhawks score another field goal the rest of the half spanning over six minutes. A 13-2 run gave the Shockers a 29-26 lead at the intermission.
The Jayhawks continued to be stunned in the second half by bombs from the Shockers’ Van Vleet, Ron Baker, Tekele Cotton, and Evan Wessel. With six minutes to go and the Shockers leading 63-55 WSU broke the full court press of the Jayhawks and Darius Carter blew by and got a layup to make it 65-55.
After that it was just slow torture for Kansas as the seconds ticked away on their season, and Wichita State could savior another trip to the Sweet 16.
“We didn’t play very smart,” Self said. “We took bad shots, and rushed shots, and you know, basically gave them confidence.”
As the final minutes ticked away, all Shockers fans who felt “big-timed” by their Kansas counterparts began to cheer heartily.
“I’m speechless,” Cotton said. “Like I heard Fred say in the locker room, this feeling is unreal, and he was right about that.”
Hey ohhhhhhhh here we go! Shockers still dancing… #MarchMadness https://t.co/Dy1IlAtxfH
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 23, 2015
In the post game when asked Gregg Marshall head coach of the Shockers was asked if there was a chance an annual game would start up again against the Jayhawks. He replied “Who knows? They may want to play now. I have no idea. I’m not worried about that. I’m fine letting the series lay the way it is right now. The series is good with me.”
Fred Van Vleet led the Shockers with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block. Devontae Graham led the Jayhawks with 17 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 5 steals.
Wichita State moves on to Cleveland for the Midwest Regional Semifinal vs #3 Notre Dame on Thursday night.
The nightcap featured a rematch of last year’s round of 32 match up between #1 Wisconsin (33-3) vs. #8 Oregon (26-10).
The game was a lot tighter than most thought it would be, and Oregon’s Dwayne Benjamin actually hit a 3 to tie the game at 52 with 5:27 to go.
Sam Dekker responded quickly for Wisconsin, however, hitting a reverse layup and then draining a three-pointer to stave off the Ducks upset bid making it 58-52.
“Oregon made their run to fight back,” Dekker said, “just as a good team always does. And good teams respond to those runs. We settled in, and guys weren’t going to get too riled up. We got a big 6-0 run there and opened up the lead and held on from there. It’s a game of runs, and you’ve got to respond at the right time.”
The Badgers had its worst shooting game in over a month and got outrebounded on the glass by the smaller Ducks, while Big Ten Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky was quiet offensively for long stretches of the game.
“I knew they were going to throw a lot of different things at us — double-teams, triple-teams, pressure up and down the court,” Kaminsky said. “When that happens, there’s bound to be a lot of missed shots.”
Pac-12 Player of the Year Joseph Young had 27 on Friday against Oklahoma State, and played even better on Sunday, finishing with 30. In fact, Young averaged a point a minute after the midway point of the first half, as he was held scoreless up to that point.
“We had ourselves in a position against an experienced, well-coached and very good team,” Ducks coach Dana Altman said. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get it finished off for these guys so we could keep playing.”
Oregon beat the Badgers 34-32 on the boards, outscored them 30-24 in the paint, and had four blocks to Wisconsin’s three.
The Badgers now face North Carolina, a team with sizable height, in the Sweet 16 on Thursday in L.A. They will have to do a lot better in boxing out, getting rebounds, and keeping the Heels out of the paint, plus limiting the Heels second chance points.