Wichita State beats Indiana 81-76 to set up showdown with Kansas

Ron Baker grabbed the rebound, heard the whistle and sprinted to the foul line. Once there, he turned and smiled.

So did a lot of basketball fans in the state of Kansas, especially those wearing Wichita State colors.

Indiana is out of the way. Wichita State can admit it wants to play Kansas.

The seventh-seeded Shockers defeated 10th-seeded Indiana 81-76 on Friday at CenturyLink Center. It’s not often a game with the Hoosiers — the five stars on the back of their shorts represent NCAA titles — is a warmup act.

“A lot of houses are going to be divided,” Baker said.

It looked like a lot of recent NCAA victories. The pep band played its familiar victory songs, coach Gregg Marshall pointed at fans and grinned while doing interviews courtside. He kissed his wife and waved to more fans. Long after the formal news conference, he sat outside the locker room and entertained media members with the Shockers’ story of building a program.

WSU advances to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and a long-awaited and much-discussed game with second-seeded Kansas, their first meeting since 1993 and their second in the NCAA Tournament. They play Sunday at CenturyLink Center with a trip to the Sweet 16 at stake.

“Two great programs are going to battle it out Sunday,” Wichita State junior Evan Wessel said. “It’s going to mean a lot for the city and the state. It will be great for fans on both sides.”

KU advanced with a 19-point win over New Mexico State. WSU had to work until the final seconds to hold off the Hoosiers. WSU’s Fred VanVleet scored 27 points, fifth most by a Shocker in the NCAA Tournament. Baker added 15 and made 7 of 8 foul shots in the final two minutes. WSU (29-4) made 29 of 34 free throws, 16 of 18 in the second half, and outscored Indiana (20-14) by 12 points at the line.

“Watching Fred do what he did in the first half really gave us a lift,” WSU freshman Shaq Morris said. “Every time we set a screen, he just had a wide-open lane.”

VanVleet scored 19 of his points in the first half — two more than the rest of the team — to keep the Shockers afloat while they sorted through several issues. They couldn’t score, couldn’t stop Indiana’s shooters and couldn’t keep key players on the court without fouling.

That all changed early in the second half as the Shockers figured out how match Indiana’s pace with an all-out attack on the rim by VanVleet and others. WSU outcored the Hoosiers 44-24 in the lane and produced 26 of those points in the second half.

Wichita State survived foul trouble and a miserable shooting game by Baker, who missed all five of his three-pointers and 10 of 13 shots. VanVleet dominated the game with his mastery of the pick-and-roll and helped bottle up Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell in the second half. WSU freshman Zach Brown scored 11 points off the bench and Morris added eight in seven minutes.

WSU senior Darius Carter played with a loose tooth after taking an unintentional blow from an opponent. He scored all nine of his points in the second half.

“We gave up too many easy baskets and VanVleet did an excellent job controlling the game,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said.

“They scored so many points inside,” Ferrell said.

Wichita State trailed by five points early in the second half. It took the lead with 10:24 to play and led by as many as eight points with 7:53 to play. The Shockers built that 65-57 lead with a 6-0 run on a layup by VanVleet, a dunk by Brown and Brown’s follow shot.

The Shockers led 72-65 before the Hoosiers regained their outside shooting touch. Collin Hartman’s three cut the lead to 72-68 wtih 3:51 to play. Carter missed a shot and Ferrell’s three cut the lead to 72-71.

“We never see each other as out of the game,” Indiana forward Troy Williams said.

WSU scored on its final five possessions. Four free throws by Baker made it 76-72. Tekele Cotton scored on a set play for a 78-74 lead. Two more free throws by Baker made it 80-76 with 19 seconds remaining. Then Baker came up with the loose ball after a miss by James Blackmon and ended Indiana’s hopes.

He jogged to the other end of the court and Wichita State fans rose to cheer. Teammates on the bench celebrated. Time to think about Kansas.

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Wichita State beats Indiana 81-76 to set up showdown with Kansas."