Shockers fade late in role reversal at NCAA Tournament
Wichita State was the highest-seeded team of the eight playing in the four NCAA Tournament games Friday in San Diego, and the Shockers are out after the first game of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
The roles were flipped for the Shockers, the No. 4 seed, losing to No. 13 Marshall 81-75 on Friday.
Wichita State was a 10th seed in 2017 and beat Dayton. In 2016, the Shockers had to beat Vanderbilt in a play-in game as an 11th seed and went on to beat No. 6 Arizona. In 2015 the No. 7 seeded Shockers beat No. 2 seed Kansas. The 2013 WSU team that reached the Final Four was a No. 9 seed.
Senior Rashard Kelly said it came down to not handling business "like men" against Marshall, a team without an NCAA Tournament victory in its history.
"I think it just goes all the way back to our preparation, our mindset," Kelly said. "Not everything was on the ups. Not everything was on the positive around here. Our young guys, they aren't the most perfect players, and they do make mistakes.
"We weren't able to eliminate it, and things didn't change."
Shocker coach Gregg Marshall said after playing in the Missouri Valley Conference the previous 10 seasons, he wasn't taking any opponent lightly, "at least not from my perspective."
"I can't read the minds of my players, but from a coaching staff perspective, it didn't change at all," Marshall said. "Our preparation was as thorough and diligent as we could possibly do."
The Thundering Herd pressed WSU with speed. Marshall entered with the third-shortest average time of possession. It had 58 possessions with one pass or fewer past halfcourt on Friday, 22 more than Wichita State.
Markis McDuffie said it was hard to prepare for Marshall's speed because the Shockers couldn't replicate it in practice.
"It was very hard to guard this team because they were just constantly attacking and attacking," McDuffie said. "As soon as they catch the ball, they catch you off guard and go."
The Marshall players were confident in their scheme . Jon Elmore called it "the most fun style of play in the country," and said many college programs are surprised and have to adjust because they aren't used to the NBA-style speed.
Friday, Elmore scored a team-high 27 points. He said he stuck to the plan.
"Whoever that guy is in front of me, I'm trying to crush him," Elmore said. "Every play, I want to play him out, get around him, get him in foul trouble, get the assist.
"I don't care who you put on me, I'm going to attack you for 40 minutes."
This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Shockers fade late in role reversal at NCAA Tournament."