NCAA: Wichita State, Northern Iowa Battle For Missouri Valley Title

Exactly one year ago, Wichita State was putting the finishing touches on a perfect regular, preparing for their final regular season battle against Missouri State at home.

Missouri State had presented the Shockers with their toughest contest in the Missouri Valley that year, forcing Wichita State to overtime. The Shockers ultimately won that game in the extra session by three and topped the Bears by 23 to move one step closer to perfection and fishing off their conference regular season championship.

Feb 11, 2015; Wichita, KS, USA; Wichita State Shockers head coach Gregg Marshall looks on during the first half against the Indiana State Sycamores at Charles Koch Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Today, the No. 11 Wichita State Shockers (26-3, 16-1), once again, prepare to finish off their season at home with a win. Perfection is no longer in sight and hasn’t been in sight since Dec. 3. No, perfection is not at stake, but another Missouri Valley regular season championship is. They’ll also, once again, be preparing to face the one team in the conference that has challenged them the most, even knocking off the Shockers the first time around.

On Saturday, the Shockers will once again play host in their final regular season contest, this time welcoming the No. 10 Northern Iowa Panthers (27-2, 16-1) to Koch Arena. The winner will walk away as Missouri Valley Champion, earn the No.1 seed in the conference tournament and guarantee a spot in the NIT at worst.

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Fortunately for both teams, neither will have to count on that NIT bid as both the Shockers and the Panthers are firmly in the NCAA Tournament field. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Wichita State pegged as a 5-seed and Northern Iowa as a 4-seed in his latest bracketology projections. With their tournament lives pretty much in hand, both teams can focus on the task in front of them without looking too far into the future.

Tied atop the Missouri Valley standings with the conference season coming to a close this weekend, Wichita State and Northern Iowa go into Saturday’s contest looking to cement their status as the best team in the conference and one of the best in the country.

These two teams have met before in Cedar Falls Jan. 31 with the Panthers coming away with a 16-point victory over the Shockers, handing Gregg Marshall’s squad their first conference loss since March 10, 2013. Since then, Wichita State has won seven straight games while Northern Iowa is on a 16-game winning streak.

Both teams have one conference loss heading into Saturday’s battle, the Shockers to these same Panthers and UNI to Evansville. Sitting with identical conference records, this one’s for all the cheddar.

In the first contest, Northern Iowa used the defensive principles that has given every single opponent fits this season to come away with the win. Playing a pack-it-in defense that forces opponents to launch many three-pointers to score, the Panthers forced the Shockers to shoot 24 threes, making just five.

Sharpshooter Ron Baker, who shoots 41 percent from downtown on the season, went just 2-for-10 on the game. WSU shot 48 total shots for the game, so half of their shots were put up from outside the arch, above their average of 19 attempts per game this season.

Taking advantage of Wichita State’s poor shooting, UNI shot a staggering 60 percent from the field for the game and put up just seven threes, making five of them. Big man Seth Tuttle, the likely Conference Player of the Year in the Missouri Valley, took over for the Panthers, scoring 29 points on 9-for-13 from the field, went 10-for-13 from the charity stripe and hauled in seven rebounds.

Feb 25, 2015; Cedar Falls, IA, USA; Northern Iowa Panthers guard Deon Mitchell (1) drives against the Evansville Purple Aces during the second half at McLeod Center. Northern Iowa won 68-57. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a while since Northern Iowa was nationally relevant, so this is new to all of the players on the Panthers roster. Wichita State is accustomed to the attention. The Shockers have been a hot topic in college basketball since March of 2013 when they made their run to the Final Four. Pressure can get to teams when they reach the big stage, and it doesn’t get much bigger than this for UNI.

ESPN’s College Gameday will originate from Wichita this Saturday morning, adding more hype to the unofficial Missouri Valley championship game. The conference hasn’t had this much attention surrounding two particular teams like this in quite some time. An underrated contest, the Panthers and Shockers are certain to come out strong and pull no punches. It’s gotten real very quickly, and it’s almost time to show what they’re made of.

Keys to the Game:

For Wichita State, it’s a matter of hitting jump shots and putting the ball in the hole. UNI holds opponents to 53.9 points per game, which ranks fourth in the nation. The Shockers were held to 54 points in their first meeting with the Panthers and can’t afford to have another game with that low of scoring.
- The Shockers will also need to find someone to step up outside of Baker, Fred Van Vleet and Tekele Cotton. Those three combined for 36 of Wichita State’s 54 points despite the trio shooting just 9-for-27 in the game. Darius Carter is one name to watch in this situation. He’ll need to step up and be the player he’s capable of being. A double-double from Carter would do wonders for Wichita State.
As for Northern Iowa, they will need to feed the beast that goes by the name of Tuttle. Tuttle leads the Panthers in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and field goal percentage. He does everything for the Panthers and will need to finish off the season on a high note for UNI to win in a tough road environment.
- UNI will also need to continue its defensive prowess and force the Shockers into difficult shots. Letting VanVleet and Baker get comfortable is never a good idea. Once they settle into a game, it becomes increasingly difficult to beat the Shockers. Wes Washpun and Deon Mitchell will do most of the heavy lifting on defense in the backcourt and must make WSU’s All-American candidates uncomfortable.

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