ST. LOUIS — Wichita State’s still perfect. And proudly awaiting a No. 1 seed.
ST. LOUIS — Wichita State’s still perfect. And proudly awaiting a No. 1 seed.
After the nation’s only unbeaten made another put-away run in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title game, guard Fred VanVleet fired back at doubters who cast aspersions on a schedule ranked 113th in the nation.
“You can debate what you want to debate. Facts are facts, truth is truth,” VanVleet, the conference player of the year, said after the second-ranked Shockers beat Indiana State 83-69 on Sunday to go to 34-0. “We’re not into debating how good or great we are or how bad somebody else.
“That’s for barber shop talk and coffee table arguments. We’re not into that stuff. If they feel that way, it’s on them. And nobody that’s arguing about it is on the selection committee.”
Players wore championship T-shirts that proclaimed Wichita State the winner on the front but on the back had a bracket with Indiana State winning.
“They’ll get us the right ones eventually,” guard Ron Baker said.
Over the last two days of the tournament, coach Gregg Marshall predicted a return trip to St. Louis, for the second and third rounds of the Midwest Regional.
“We know the routine, we know the hotel. There won’t be any ooh, aah moments,” Marshall said. “It will be just business as usual.”
VanVleet scored 22 points including several key baskets late and the Shockers got their typical strong ensemble effort.
“Every one of them’s a handful,” Indiana State guard Jake Odum said. “We were right there but they’re unbeaten for a reason. They stayed composed, they hit tough shots, they earned it.”
Tekele Cotton added 20 points — with four 3-pointers — and Baker had 14 points for the Shockers (34-0), who got tested in the second half before putting the title game out of reach with a 13-0 run capped by two 3-pointers from VanVleet that put them up by 18 points with 5:38 to go.
“I didn’t have enough timeouts to stop the runs, but that’s what they do,” Indiana State coach Greg Lansing said. “That’s why they’re undefeated. That’s why they’re hoisting the trophy.”
Wichita State matched the NCAA record for victories to start the season by UNLV in 1990-91 with its third straight convincing tournament win after going 18-0 in the conference regular season. The Shockers won their first conference tournament since 1987.
“We’re not flawless,” Marshall said. “Our record is flawless. We’ve got great players. They’ve taken us on an unbelievable ride to this point.”
Manny Arop and Justin Gant had 18 points apiece for second-seeded Indiana State (23-10), which has one of the closer calls against Wichita State with a seven-point loss at home in early February. Arop totaled 12 points the first two tourney games.
“Hopefully we’ll get into the NIT,” Odum said. “We’ll see if we can make a splash there.”
The Shockers had runs of 17-0 and 24-0 while beating Missouri State by 25 points in the semifinals.
Wichita State’s last nine victories have all been by double digits. The Shockers have won 12 of 14 in the Indiana State series.
“They do not have weaknesses,” Lansing said. “If anybody could see one, I’d like to hear it.”
VanVleet scored 13 points in the final 6 minutes and was named to the all-tournament team along Cleanthony Early and Cotton, who was voted the tourney MVP. Odum also made the team along with Evansville’s D.J. Balentine, who scored 61 points in two games.
The only way the Valley could get two teams in the NCAA tournament was if Wichita State lost. The Shockers earned the conference’s automatic bid after going to the Final Four as a No. 9 seed and Valley tourney runner-up last March.
Wichita State got some early breathing room with an 11-0 run for a 23-11 lead not long past the mid-point of the first half, and led by at least nine points the rest of the half while taking a 39-29 halftime lead. Darius Carter led the way off the bench with nine points and five rebounds in 9 minutes.
VanVleet hit a layup and Baker had a three-point play in the opening minute of the second half to open a 15-point gap, then Wichita State went cold missing eight straight shots while Indiana State scored nine straight points to shave the deficit to six. Indiana crawled back within five points twice, the last time on two free throws by Jake Odum with 10:20 that made make it 55-50.
Indiana State cut the gap to eight points with about 3 minutes left but VanVleet hit a 3-pointer and made two layups the rest of the way.
MARYLAND 75
No. 5 VIRGINIA 69, OT
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland closed out its 61st and final Atlantic Coast Conference regular season in stunning fashion b y ending Virginia’s 13-game winning streak.
After blowing a seemingly secure lead in the closing seconds of regulation, the Terrapins never trailed in the extra session in front of an emotional sellout crowd of 17,950 at the school’s final home basketball game in a conference it joined as a charter member in 1953. Maryland moves to the Big Ten next season.
When the final buzzer sounded, thousands of fans stormed the court to celebrate another unforgettable ACC memory at the expense of one of its biggest rivals.
Seth Allen scored five of his 20 points in overtime and Dez Wells finished with 18 for the Terrapins (17-14, 9-9 ACC), who had lost six straight to Virginia, including a 61-53 decision in February.
Anthony Gill scored 15 points and London Perrantes had 14 for Virginia (25-6, 16-2), which had already won the regular season title and was vying to set an ACC record for most league wins during the regular season.
No. 7 SYRACUSE 74
FLORIDA ST. 58
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — C.J. Fair scored 22 points and Syracuse closed the regular season with a victory in the program’s first trip to Florida State. The Orange, who ended a two-game losing streak, had lost 4 of 5 after starting the season 25-0.
Jerami Grant, who had been bothered by back problems recently, had 16 points and eight rebounds while Tyler Ennis finished with 16 points for Syracuse (27-4, 14-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Okaro White led Florida State with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow senior Ian Miller scored 16 points in his last home game while Aaron Thomas chipped in 14.
The bubble may have burst for Florida State (18-12, 9-9) which desperately needed a signature win at this point of the season to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Syracuse ran away from the Seminoles in the second half behind Fair. The senior forward scored 15 points after halftime, including 10 of the Orange’s first 14 to take a 47-40 lead.
No. 17 SAINT LOUIS 64
UMASS 62
AMHERST, Mass. — Jordair Jett scored on a driving layup with 3 seconds to play and Saint Louis snapped a three-game losing streak to win the Atlantic 10 regular season title outright for the second straight season.
Jett finished with 17 points, including the Billikens’ last six of the game. Saint Louis (26-5, 13-3 A-10) got its final possession on a jump ball call with 36.4 seconds left. Jett dribbled out the clock near midcourt before starting the game-winning drive.
Chaz Williams, who had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Minutemen (23-7, 10-6), had a 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounce off the rim.
Saint Louis, which started its losing skid after a school-record 19-game winning streak, didn’t lead in the second half until Jett’s game-winning shot.
Ohio St. 69
No. 22 Michigan St. 67
COLUMBUS, Ohio — LaQuinton Ross scored 22 points and Aaron Craft added 12, including a late free throw, to lead Ohio State past No. 22 Michigan State 69-67.
Keith Appling’s jumper with 2 seconds left was off the mark for the Spartans, who failed to score over the final 4:30 as Ohio State scored the game’s final four points.
Adreian Payne scored 23 points, Gary Harris had 12 and Denzel Valentine 11 for the Spartans (23-8, 12-6 Big Ten), who have lost seven of their last 11.
Much-maligned center Amir Williams hit a free throw with 37.2 seconds left to put Ohio State (23-8, 10-8) ahead for good. Craft then added a free throw with 20.9 seconds remaining.
Both teams were seeking some traction heading into the postseason. The Buckeyes had dropped their last two on the road to second-tier Big Ten teams.
Up by two points at halftime, the Spartans fell behind 44-39 on Smith’s backdoor pass to Craft for a layup at the 17:40 mark. But the Spartans responded with a 12-0 run.