Amid Weak Schedule, Wichita State Faces a Challenging Stretch
WICHITA, Kan. - There are not many statement games on Wichita State's schedule this season, but two are coming up in a matter of days.
The unbeaten and fourth-ranked Shockers travel to Indiana State on Wednesday and Northern Iowa on Saturday. Those two teams are the closest contenders behind the Shockers in the Missouri Valley Conference race.
More important, they are the two teams with the best chance of beating Wichita State (23-0, 10-0) before the start of the conference tournament March 6.
'It's the week that everyone's been talking about and pointing at, arguably two of the best teams in our league, back to back, on the road,' Shockers Coach Gregg Marshall said. 'I know they'll be great atmospheres coming up, and we'll have to play really good basketball.'
The Shockers might want to avoid spotting their opponents a big early lead, the way they did last weekend.
Wichita State allowed Evansville to race out to a 15-point first-half advantage Saturday before rallying for an 81-67 victory. When then-No. 1 Arizona lost to California later that night, it left only the Shockers and the new No. 1, Syracuse, as the nation's undefeated teams.
To put that into perspective, the only other team from the Missouri Valley Conference to win its first 23 games was Larry Bird's Indiana State team, which went 33-0 before losing to Magic Johnson and Michigan State in the 1979 N.C.A.A. championship game.
The last team to enter the N.C.A.A. tournament undefeated was Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991.
'Nobody in this program feels like we're at our best or reached our peak,' guard Fred VanVleet said. 'Besides, we don't worry about what the outside world is talking about. We know every game in the Valley is a challenge.'
Poll voters have been largely unimpressed by the Shockers' relatively weak schedule, which is why they remained No. 4 this week - behind Arizona, which dropped to second, and Florida, which has lost twice this season.
Wichita State has only one victory against a current top-25 team, beating No. 13 St. Louis before the Billikens were ranked. Otherwise, the Shockers have been pounding away on a schedule that offers few chances to pick up marquee victories.
That is not entirely the Shockers' fault. Marshall has found it increasingly tough to schedule games against high-profile opponents after his team's run to last year's Final Four. Many of those teams do not want to risk losing to a midmajor program.
Then there is the fact that the Missouri Valley Conference is considerably weaker this season.
Creighton proved to be the Shockers' toughest rival, but it moved to the Big East and left few contenders for conference superiority. Indiana State (17-5, 8-2) may be the closest thing, but even it was routed by Wichita State, 68-48, when they met Jan. 18.
The Shockers beat Northern Iowa, 67-53, in their first meeting this season.
'It's something a lot of people have talked about, and I think we're excited about it,' forward Ron Baker said of the two-game trip. 'We'll be prepared just like we always are. No games are a given on the road. It's going to be hostile, and we're looking forward to it.'
Even with a weak schedule, Wichita State is still in the top 10 of the R.P.I., a key factor when the N.C.A.A. selection committee seeds teams. But its schedule also means that any slip would probably dash its chance of earning a No. 1 seed.
It would help if the Shockers continued to dominate their opponents.
They are the only team in the nation to lead its conference in scoring offense and defense. They also lead the league in scoring margin, offensive and defensive rebounding, turnover margin, rebounding margin, blocked shots and, well, just about every other statistic.
'We're trying to win a conference championship and get into the N.C.A.A. tournament with the best seed we can get, and just remain relevant nationally,' Marshall said. 'We're pleased to go to 23-0 and looking forward to this week. I know it'll be a big challenge.'
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