The Wichita State-Miami matchup
In line behind, or in front of, Duke
The lure of TV ratings sets the NCAA Tournament schedule. That is not new and part of the price for the $10.8 billion contract the NCAA signed in 2010 with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting.
That deal pays most of the NCAA bills. Member schools know the score.
That doesn’t make Saturday’s game time make any more sense for Wichita State. The Shockers will play at 11:10 a.m. Central (12:10 p.m. in Providence), their third game in five days in two cities. With the early tip, most of the field will be two games behind the Shockers by midday Saturday.
The NCAA and CBS placed Duke against Yale as the later game on Saturday from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, putting the Blue Devils and their national appeal closer to prime-time viewing.
“Miami got a little bit more rest than we did because they played right before us, but I would obviously prefer the game to be a little later,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We’ve played 9:10, 9:20, and now we bump it up to the first game of the day, noon tomorrow. But again, they didn’t ask me. They didn’t really care for my opinion.”
Add it to the list.
“That’s more good luck for us, I guess,” senior Fred VanVleet said. “Obviously the play-in game is not an ideal situation, but it is what it is, and we’re here. We turned around and got to play in 36 hours, and we get the early game Saturday. But we’ll take it, and it’s just fitting for our story, and we’re up for the challenge.”
WSU’s journey started Sunday night with the selection show. The Shockers flew to Dayton on Monday, played Tuesday night and flew out around two hours after beating Vanderbilt. They arrived in Providence around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. They played Thursday’s late game.
“We’ve been sleeping during the day and then doing things at night, traveling, red eyes,” Marshall said. “It’s been odd. It really has. It’s been odd. But at this point, you’re running on adrenaline. We’re hoping we can get one more victory tomorrow afternoon. They say they’re sending a plane for us, win or lose, to take us back to Wichita tomorrow. It has been just a very grueling, very taxing several days, but it’s been fun all the same.”
One tough team to another
When Wichita State is involved, the talk inevitably turns to toughness — what is it, how is described, how is it created and how does the other team deal with it.
Both teams took their shots at describing that intangible on Friday. “Tough”’ or “toughness” shows up 21 times in the transcripts from Friday’s two interview sessions with coaches and players from the teams.
“They’re well-coached, and they’re a tough team,” Miami guard Angel Rodriguez said. “They really like to out-tough everybody that they play, so they’re not going to be scared to play Miami. They’re not going to be scared to play anybody. But we’re not, either, so it’ll be a great match-up.”
VanVleet referred people to Thursday’s win over Arizona.
“I feel like anybody that watched that game last night won’t have a hard time understanding what that means for us in terms of diving on the floor, just playing the game the right way, playing as hard as you possibly can, physically and mentally tough, and putting it all together at the right time,” he said. “Obviously it wasn’t a beautiful offensive performance, but when you can hold a team that averages 81 to 55, all you have to do is make a couple more shots than them, and things will usually go your way.”
We’re No. 1
Wichita State’s defense carried the Shockers into the 68-team field. A No. 11 ranking by kenpom.com likely provided statistical support for WSU’s at-large resume and it is No. 1 in defensive efficiency.
Arizona can bear witness after Thursday’s 65-55 loss to the Shockers. The Wildcats averaged 81.2 points, 19th nationally, entering the game. WSU held them to a season-low 55 points, forcing 19 turnovers and allowing 20 baskets.
“According to Ken Pom statistics, they’re the No. 1 defensive team in the country, and that obviously is something that we’re going to have to address with our players as to how to attack them and how to score against their defense,” Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga said.
WSU’s defense starts with VanVleet and guard Ron Baker, both seniors.
“They may be the only team we’ve faced all year that’s older than we are,” Larranaga said. “They’ve got a lot of old guys, guys who have been around a long time. They’ve been in the program. They’ve learned the system, and they are able to execute that under all circumstances. So that experience and toughness and grit that they have is achieved over a period of time, and it has to be earned through success. You don’t get that by losing. You get that by fighting through adversity and still succeeding.”
Arizona coach Sean Miller watched VanVleet and Baker frazzle his guards and ruin his offense. Gabe York missed 6 of 9 shots and committed two turnovers without recording an assist. Kadeem Allen committed seven turnovers and recorded two assists. Freshman Allonzo Trier had four turnovers and two assists, while missing 8 of 12 shots.
“(VanVleet’s) in total control of the game, and he’s better on defense than he is on offense, and they have a two guard who’s kind of the same in Baker,” Miller said. “And when you put those two guys out there together, considering the experience they have, it’s not a good feeling playing against Wichita State. (VanVleet) forces your point guard to do things that he normally doesn’t do. I thought he disrupted our point guard for most of the game.”
We’re No. 1 again
Larranaga pays attention to the Pomeroy ranking because it removes the distraction of conference play, in his mind.
The Shockers hold teams to .88 points per possession with San Diego State second at .899. Kentucky leads the nation in offensive efficiency at 1.22 points per possession and average teams score around 1.02 per possession.
“It doesn’t matter what league you’re in,” he said. “It matters how good you are. That’s why we refer so often to Ken Pom statistics. That measures you against everybody you play and everybody in the country. And Wichita State’s No. 1 defensively, so that immediately gets our attention and earns our respect because that’s a hard goal to achieve.”
Wichita State won’t hang a banner for ranking No. 1 in Ken Pomeroy’s stats.
“Anytime you are No. 1 in something in the country, you take pride in that,” VanVleet said. “So I’ll take it. I don’t care what it is. If somebody made it up, we’ll take it. But that also means we’ve got to go out there and prove it every game, too.”
Miami’s Murphy shines
Junior Kamari Murphy is Miami’s hard-work, dirty-work guy in the front court.
He played his best game of the season against Buffalo, making 4 of 7 shots to score 11 points, grab 13 rebounds and block four shots. Murphy, who transferred from Oklahoma State after two seasons, averages 5.7 points and 6 rebounds.
“We really needed him, and his athleticism of guarding the stretch 5 and the stretch 4 guys,” Miami center Tonye Jekiri said “On the offensive end, we always needed him to score a lot. And last night I think he did a pretty good job also of catching the ball and finishing around the basket.”
The Hurricanes are ranked No. 44 in Pomeroy’s defensive statistics, allowing .971 points per possession. They rank seventh in the 15-team ACC by allowing teams to make 43 percent of their shots. They rank sixth defending three-pointers, holding teams to 33.6 percent.
Worth noting
Wichita State is 0-1 against the Hurricanes, losing 81-59 during the 1988-89 season. The Shockers are 0-1 against ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Notre Dame in the 2015 Sweet 16. The Shockers defeated ACC member Virginia Tech in the 2011 NIT.… WSU is 17-13 in 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. It is one of five schools with a win in the past four NCAA Tournaments, a list that dropped second-seeded Michigan State on Friday. … The Shockers, with wins of 20 over Vanderbilt and 10 over Arizona, own consecutive double-digit NCAA wins for the first time.… Miami’s media game notes are unique in providing weather updates. On Friday, the high temperature in Coral Gables was 82; 52 in Wichita.… Larranaga is 8-6 in seven NCAA appearances. Miami is 7-7 in the tournament in eight appearances. It advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2000 under coach Leonard Hamilton and 2013 under Larranaga.… Miami, which counts NBA star Rick Barry among its alums, dropped its program from 1971-85. Barry averaged 37.4 points to lead the nation in 1965.… Miami’s BankUnited Center sold out its season tickets (5,500) for the first time in program history this season. The number doubled from Larranaga’s first season in 2011-12. The BankUnited Center seats 7,972.
Paul Suellentrop
This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "The Wichita State-Miami matchup."