Wichita State moves up to No. 11 in AP poll

The Missouri Valley Conference regular season will end with a meeting of top-11 teams on Saturday at Koch Arena.

Wichita State moved up two spots to No. 11 in Monday’s Associated Press top 25. It is WSU’s best ranking since it was No. 11 in late December. Northern Iowa bumped up one spot to No. 10, continuing the program’s highest spots in the poll.

Both teams play Wednesday before Saturday’s showdown with ESPN and ESPN’s “College GameDay” set to showcase the 1 p.m. game. WSU (25-3, 15-1 MVC) plays at Indiana State (14-14, 10-6). UNI (26-2, 15-1) plays host to Evansville (19-9, 9-7), the team that handed the Panthers their conference loss on Jan. 1.

While both coaches prefer to focus on Wednesday’s game, they addressed Saturday’s hype during Monday’s MVC coaches conference call.

“We’ve got to do what we can today to get ready for Wednesday,” UNI coach Ben Jacobson said. “At some point, I’m sure, people will be able to figure out where they place Saturday’s game as compared to some of the bigger games in the history of our league.”

On Sunday, WSU coach Gregg Marshall told fans not to ask him for tickets to Saturday’s game because he is out. WSU’s streak of 31 straight home wins, fourth-longest active in the nation, is on the line.

“I think it’s going to be great,” he said. “That’s a big-time stage for college basketball.”

Kansas (22-5) stayed No. 8. The Jayhawks play at Kansas State on Monday.

This story was originally published February 23, 2015 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Wichita State moves up to No. 11 in AP poll."