The Wichita State Shockers tried to become the first team in major college basketball to complete an unbeaten season since the Indiana Hoosiers in 1976, and at the very least, they tried to become the first team since Indiana State in 1979 to enter the national championship game without a loss. The Shockers fell short of all these goals, but they still pulled off a season for the ages. What will they do for an encore this season?
2013-14 Recap
The Shockers truly had nothing, absolutely nothing, go wrong for them in terms of wins and losses until their last game. Wichita State won 35 of 35 games and gained a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, something nobody was predicting before the season began.
Wichita State didn’t lose a single game out of conference, and remained perfect in the Missouri Valley Conference as well. People wondered if this team was going to be good enough to stand up to powerful teams from established conferences, and there were a lot of skeptics entering March Madness. However, Wichita State showed that even though it couldn’t escape the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, it was still worthy of its number one seed and a team that could go toe to toe with the best.
In Wichita State’s second game of the NCAA Tournament, the Shockers faced the Kentucky Wildcats. This was a team that entered the NCAAs as a number eight seed, and so when Wichita State took the court with the Wildcats, it was easy to think that Kentucky was going to fall short.
However, preseason No. 1 Kentucky played its best game in over two months, hitting 54 percent of its shots and getting balanced statistical production from its roster, with perimeter shooting complementing the inside scoring of Julius Randle.
With Kentucky shooting 54 percent, Wichita State shouldn’t have been able to even stay close, but the Shockers hit 55 percent of their shots and were with Kentucky step-by-step the whole way, in what was one of the best games of that NCAA Tournament. Wichita State and Kentucky traded blows in an exciting second half, but after Kentucky took a late 78-76 lead, Wichita State’s final shot attempt missed the mark.
What could you say about Wichita State? The Shockers had a nearly perfect season and then shot really well against a team that eventually finished as the national runner-up in 2014. Wichita State lost to that runner-up team by one bucket. That’s just bad luck after what was the best regular season of any college basketball team in quite some time.
Offseason Changes
The Shockers lose Cleanthony Early, a forward who scored at just over 16 points per game, grabbed nearly six rebounds per game, and provided top-shelf leadership and defense for head coach Gregg Marshall. Wichita State has to replace Early, but it keeps veterans Ron Baker, Tekele Cotton, and Fred VanVleet.
Projected Finish
The Shockers won’t get a No. 1 seed this season. They won’t go 35-0. They will still be very good, and they’ll have a really good chance to make the Sweet 16. Wichita State will play great defense once again, and that will matter.
Pick: First In The Missouri Valley, Sweet 16 In The NCAA Tournament
