Wichita State

Brian has Wichita State making the Elite 8 which isn't far-fetched at all. The Shockers are worse than last year by the numbers but probably won't get Kentucky in the Round of 32 this year. Match-ups and lock. So important in March.

This team isn't as good as last year but actually profiles slightly better than the Final 4 team. They currently are 9th overall in KenPom. They get there by being 17th in AdjO and 26th in AdjD. Utah, Arizona, Kentucky & Virginia are the only other teams in the top 30 of either.

Wichita has an effective fg% of 51.6%, 71st overall. They protect the ball. Their turnover % is only 15.35, 9th best. They have a good 3-point shooting team, making 37.3%. Ron Baker is the deadliest of the group, making 40%. They are shaky at the line, making only 68.1% of their freebies. Despite that, they're not a team that gets to the line a ton, so it's more of a late game concern.

The best thing they do on defense is rebound. Opponents get 26.8% of their misses. That's 25th best in the nation. An area of concern is, teams get open looks from 3. Teams shoot 35.5% from deep. That's 246th best. That's a concern. Balancing that is, teams only make 43% from 2, so the effective defensive fg% is a respectable 46.2%. Also, the amount of scoring generated by opponents from deep is average with the rest of the nation. Still, in a one game setting, they're vulnerable to a good shooting team.

I mentioned Ron Baker before who is a familiar name. Also back is Fred Van Vleet and Tekele Cotton. Van Vleet, a JR., is a very solid PG. His assist rate is 37.7%, 16th best overall. Him and Baker really do an outstanding job of protecting the ball. Van Vleet also has a steal rate of 4.2%, 37th best. Weak back courts will be exposed by these two. Cotton, van Vleet & Baker play a lot of minutes. SR. Darius Carter is the "big man" at 6'7". Carter is the best rebounder the Shockers have. Coach Gregg Marshall will also play his freshmen and he's got 5 that have seen the court. Corey Henderson has gotten the most minutes.

The schedule doesn't tell us much. They lost by a bucket late at Utah and on a neutral court to George Washington. Best win is hard to pick. Memphis? Alabama? Seton Hall? They've won 7 straight to open the Valley season but haven't seen UNI yet. The last 5 have been double digit wins, the first 2 were by 8. I'm not sure it tells us much but 18-2 is 18-2.

There's little doubt this could be a team playing in an Elite 8. Great guards make them go and they have the experience if such things matter to you. As always, it's all about match-ups but a Shocker run shouldn't shock you. I just made that up.