MVC notes: Loss costs Wichita State a chance to improve its NCAA Tournament resume

ST. LOUIS – Wichita State came to St. Louis with a chance to win three games, perhaps one over Northern Iowa, present the NCAA Tournament selection committee a resume with a 30-3 record.

That seemed to give the Shockers a good shot at a No. 4 seed, which is where ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and many other bracket analysts placed them entering the weekend. Saturday’s loss to Illinois State will likely change that outlook, depending on how this week’s results play out for other teams.

“I have no idea,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “They pay Joey Brackets (Lunardi) and Jerry Palm … they pay those guys to do that. And they have a lot of big executives that sit on that NCAA (selection) committee to make the high-dollar decisions. My job is just to get in and be a part of the party.”

The Shockers are part of the dance. When and where they play will be revealed on March 15. Palm, who attended Saturday’s games at Scottrade Arena, said WSU could end up as a No. 7 or a No. 8 seed. A familiar story — lack of quality wins — may weaken their case for a better seed. The Shockers (28-4) are No. 16 in the warrennolan.com power ranking (RPI). They are 2-2 against the top 50, with wins over No. 47 Tulsa and No. 15 Northern Iowa. They are 5-2 against teams ranked 51-100 after Saturday’s loss to No. 64 Illinois State.

No bad losses. One quality loss, in overtime at Utah. But the lack of high-powered victories may cost the Shockers. The opportunity lost by playing UNI a third time could hurt when the selection committee compares results. Disappointing seasons by Memphis, New Mexico State, Seton Hall and Alabama also hurt.

“They’ve got a really thin resume,” Palm said. “You’ve got Northern Iowa at home. They’ve got Tulsa at home. The non-conference schedule didn’t give them an opportunity to play up. They don’t have any bad losses. It looks like a middle-of-the-bracket team, No. 7, No. 8.”

UNI plays Illinois State on Sunday. The Panthers benefit from a win over Iowa, judged a certain NCAA Tournament team. Even a win on Sunday, Palm said, is unlikely to move the Panthers to a No. 3 seed. A loss could drop them to a No. 5 or a No. 6.

“Their max is a No. 4,” he said. “They’re hurt by (WSU’s) loss, too. Because that’s the resume-building game. Illinois State doesn’t help their resume.”

Move and counter — The final seconds of Saturday’s Wichita State game offered two important strategic decisions.

Illinois State coach Dan Muller said he did not want to foul WSU’s Fred VanVleet in the final seconds to protect a 65-62 lead. Some coaches would foul to remove the chance at a tying basket, preferring to send the opponent to the foul line for two shots.

The absence of center Reggie Lynch, who fouled out, played into Muller’s decision not to foul.

“We usually foul in that situation,” he said. “I didn’t love my rebounding group. I thought we could take enough time off the clock with our press to, at the very least, force an incredibly tough shot.”

WSU trailed 63-62 with 17 seconds to play and the Redbirds inbounded. The Shockers wanted to trap and try for a steal until the ball passed half-court, then foul to stop the clock. They fouled Daishon Knight, an 85-percent foul shooter with seven seconds remaining.

“They beat the press that time,” Marshall said. “They had struggled beating it previous possessions.”

Behind the bench — It is an annual rite for some Wichita State fans to wonder how the MVC decides who sits where. The Shockers fan sitting behind the basket at Scottrade Arena sees open seats at mid-court and grows frustrated.

Tournament director Jack Watkins is happy to explain.

Learfield Communications, the company that pays for much of the MVC’s TV package and helps fund the tournament, controls sections 116 and 103 at midcourt on both sides.

Each schools gets 100 seats, for sale, between the baselines and 100 VIP seats behind the benches to distributes to donors, family members etc. Each school is also guaranteed the availability to buy 600 more in the lower bowl. Each school must purchase 225.

“How the school handles those (VIP seat) is their decision,” Watkins said. “So every school starts the game with 200 seats between the baseline.”

Changing the way corporate seats are allotted, an option proposed by Wichita State, is not an option under the contract.

“We are represented by a marketing and media rights holder, MVC Sports Properties, which is a division of Learfield Sports, and that company pays us a rather large rights fee, that we use to underwrite the men’s basketball tournament, as well as our television network,” Watkins said. “Compromising their seats would violate our contract.”

The MVC seats four schools behind the team benches and six on the other side of the arena. The seats behind the team benches are supposed to rotate because they are on camera the most. The MVC has kept WSU behind the team bench the past three seasons, because they fill seats and look good for the cameras. That is also the reason WSU’s pep band and student section are always in the same location, next to the jib camera used to pan over the crowd.

“They’ve been on camera-side closest to the floor the past three years,” Watkins said. “They bring a lot of fans.”

Way back when — Illinois State’s win represented a big piece of history for the Redbirds.

The Shockers were the highest-ranked team Illinois State has beaten since taking down No. 4 Indiana State and NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird in 1978.

Not that the Redbirds are unfamiliar with beating ranked teams — this was the fourth straight year they’ve posted a win over a Top 25 team.

Muller gets another shot — Muller will get the unique opportunity on Sunday to win a MVC Tournament as both a player and as a coach.

Muller, a two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997 for Illinois State, won a tournament title in 1998, his senior season.

“That year, my senior year, is one of my greatest memories,” Muller said. “And that’s what I’ve wanted for these guys all along, to be able to experience that feeling. It was such a great time in my life and I want them to get to experience that, too.”

Former Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery was the first to win the tournament as a player and coach. He played on the SIU championship teams in 1993 and 1994 and coached the Salukis in 2006.

Minute men — The postseason’s first two games showed that WSU’s backcourt depth after the starting trio of Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet and Tekele Cotton isn’t something Marshall has a lot of faith in.

VanVleet played 73 of a possible 80 minutes, Cotton played 67 and Baker played 66. Freshman guards Ria’n Holland and Corey Henderson, who were in and out of the rotation all season, played a total of two minutes in St. Louis and didn’t see the court in the loss to Illinois State.

This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 7:42 PM with the headline "MVC notes: Loss costs Wichita State a chance to improve its NCAA Tournament resume."