Wichita State rejoices after long-awaited win over Kansas

The bluebloods are going home. The blue collars are headed to Cleveland.

In the first game between Wichita State and Kansas since 1993 – and the first in the NCAA Tournament since 1981 – WSU prevailed with a 78-65 win over KU that left Shocker fans in a state of elation and Jayhawk fans in a state of disbelief.

With the win, WSU advances to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years, where they will take on Notre Dame on Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Tip-off is set for 6:15 p.m., and the game will be aired on KWCH.

“Just a great day to be a part of Shocker nation and lead these young men into battle,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “I thought they played a beautiful basketball game.”

It also made it two straight wins for WSU over KU in the tournament, following a 66-65 win 34 years ago in the Sweet 16 in New Orleans. The Jayhawks, champions of the Big 12 and three-time national champions, lost in the third round for the second straight season.

The game also ended years of speculation and pining, largely by WSU fans, about what a potential match-up with the Jayhawks might yield.

“I just hope everyone in Wichita is enjoying this as much as we are,” WSU president John Bardo said Sunday night outside the Shockers’ locker room. “Recognize what’s happening to our university. It’s becoming a national model, and you see it in the quality of these young men.

“It’s not just good basketball players … you get to know them as human beings and you realize it’s much more than that. We’re winning not by just getting an athlete who looks good on paper, but it’s about getting fine young men who can do the right thing and win.”

With Omaha’s CenturyLink Center seemingly split down the middle Sunday between KU’s crimson and blue and the Shockers’ black and yellow, it was hard to distinguish exactly which team the crowd was cheering for at any given time in front of 17,563 fans in the home of WSU’s former Missouri Valley Conference rival Creighton. The Bluejays left the MVC after 2012-13 to join the Big East Conference.

The Shockers made it to the Final Four in 2013 and were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season, becoming the first team to go 35-0 before losing to eventual national runner-up Kentucky in the third round.

“Their success has helped (the MVC) turn the page after our membership change we experienced in 2013,” MVC commissioner Doug Elgin said of the Shockers. “It’s certainly elevated our league and kept us in the national spotlight. … It kept us relevant and competitive on a national level.”

Tickets for the Cleveland game were sold out on ncaa.com/tickets by Sunday night, with tickets going on the secondary market at stubhub.com starting at $200 for Thursday’s games between the Shockers and Notre Dame and top-ranked, undefeated Kentucky and West Virginia.

There were around 2,000 tickets left for Thursday’s games at stubhub.com.

Bardo didn’t see Sunday’s game as the tipping point to a possible regular-season series with KU.

“I really doubt it,” he said. “If it works out KU and WSU can play, so be it. If it works out they don’t want to, that’s fine, too.

“We’re not going to base our university’s future on the decision of another institution.”

Marshall, somewhat jokingly, weighed in.

“I’m just fine with the series how it is,” he said, smiling.

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 12:06 AM with the headline "Wichita State rejoices after long-awaited win over Kansas."