There were plenty of reasons to celebrate Wichita State’s thrilling 65-63 victory over Connecticut at Koch Arena on Thursday.
For starters, the game ended on a buzzer-beater by senior Samajae Haynes-Jones that ended up being the No. 1 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays segment. Also of note, the win gave coach Gregg Marshall his landmark 300th victory in 12 seasons at WSU.
But perhaps most importantly, the win kept Wichita State’s hopes alive for the No. 6 seed at the American Athletic Conference tournament starting March 14 in Memphis. The Shockers are locked into a two-team battle for the sixth seed with South Florida, level at 7-8 with three games to play.
So why is the sixth seed so important? It’s about how the bracket is more than likely to fall.
The sixth seed will draw the 11th seed in the opening round. It’s almost a lock that East Carolina, which hasn’t beaten a team other than last-place Tulane in the last two months, will be the No. 11 seed. Win that game and the quarterfinal draw would be the No. 3 seed, which will be either UCF, Temple or Memphis.
Compare that to the path of the seven seed: a first-round draw against the No. 10 seed, either SMU or UConn, two teams that have struggled but are still dangerous with their talent. Escape that matchup and then the No. 2 seed, either Houston or Cincinnati, will be waiting.
“If we can finish sixth, it’s so much better than seventh the way I look at the bracket,” Marshall said. “We need to try to finish sixth. I don’t know what they’ve got the last three games, but I know what we’ve got and we just have to go out and take care of business.”
WSU doesn’t control its own destiny since South Florida won the lone head-to-head matchup, 54-41 in Tampa, Fla on Jan. 22. But Sunday could decide how things shake out, as the Shockers head to Dallas for a 1 p.m. game at SMU broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Here’s how the two teams finish out their season:
Wichita State
- at SMU (5-10) on Sunday
- vs. East Carolina (3-12) on Tuesday
- at Tulane (0-15) on Saturday
South Florida
- at Connecticut (4-11) on Sunday
- at Tulane (0-15) on Wednesday
- vs. SMU (5-10) on Sunday
Neither team should slip up with their road trip to winless Tulane and both will be favored to win at home (WSU against East Carolina and USF against SMU). So it might come down to if either team can pick up a road win on Sunday.
Both WSU and USF will be underdogs on the road on Sunday, although the Shockers may have the slight advantage. WSU has won six of its last eight games, while SMU’s lack of depth has hurt it as the Mustangs have lost seven of their last eight.
USF, on the other hand, isn’t playing its best as of late. The Bulls have lost four straight conference games to four of the conference’s best teams. While UConn has lost six in a row, it has played strong at home this season. UConn is 12-3 at home with all three losses coming to the AAC’s top three teams.
If WSU wins and USF loses on Sunday, then the Shockers would have the inside track for the sixth seed. If both teams win or lose, then WSU would have to rely on a USF slip-up the final week of the regular season to pass the Bulls.
No AAC team has finished with more than seven wins following a 1-6 start and none have earned higher than a No. 8 seed in the conference tournament. WSU is in prime position to pull off both of those accomplishments.
Wichita State at SMU
Records: WSU 14-13, 7-8 AAC; SMU 13-14, 5-10
When: Sunday 1 p.m.
Where: Moody Coliseum, Dallas
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM
About Wichita State: The Shockers are coming off their second last-second game-winner of the season, a 65-63 win over UConn on Thursday. Samajae Haynes-Jones hit that jumperand also the layup that defeated SMU 85-83 at Koch Arena on Jan. 30... WSU is 0-6 this season when trailing at halftime on the road. The Shockers are looking for their third road win in last four chances, though....McDuffie needs just one more three-pointer to tie Fred VanVleet for 10th place on WSU’s career list. He needs 15 more points to pass Jamie Thompson (1964-67) for 16th on WSU’s all-time scoring list...After making less than 29 percent of threes in a 1-6 start to conference play, WSU has made 35.2 percent of threes the last eight games. WSU was also being outrebounded, but has since turned it around and outrebounded opponents by an average of 4.8 rebounds during its 6-2 stretch lately... WSU freshman center Morris Udeze had season-ending shoulder surgery on Wednesday to correct a series of dislocations to his left shoulder. He averaged 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 12.6 minutes and last appeared in a. game on Jan. 26... Jaime Echenique has blocked a shot in 12 straight games, which is tied for the longest of the Marshall era.
About SMU: Sunday will be SMU’s last home game and senior day, where Nat Dixon, Topeka native Jahmal McMurray and injured Jarrey Foster will be honored before the game... SMU has won four of the five games against the Shockers in Dallas. WSU won at SMU last season, however... Since a 3-1 start to AAC play, SMU has lost nine of its next 11 games... Due to NCAA sanctions, SMU is working with two less scholarships than most teams. On top of that, injuries have ravished the Mustangs. They are down to nine scholarship players for Sunday’s game... McMurray has 10 games with at least 20 points this season. He scored 27 points in SMU’s last loss, a 52-49 defeat to Cincinnati, and was the first player to account for more than 50 percent of SMU’s production since 2005... SMU is 10-6 this season when at least four score in double figures. SMU is also 10-6 this season when outrebounding opponents, 10-3 when scoring more in the paint and 12-3 when outshooting opponents.
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