2011 Missouri Valley Conference Basketball |
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Wichita State Shockers vs Missouri State Bears Basketball RecapMissouri State 59, Wichita State 56 It’s rare that a game with lasting and high-level NCAA Tournament significance is played on the second Sunday of January, but the momentous Missouri Valley Conference clash between the Missouri State Bears and the Wichita State Shockers definitely fit the bill. Two teams at the top of the conference knew that if an at-large berth to the Big Dance was a legitimate possibility, they needed to break through at the Charles Koch Center in Wichita, Kansas. With that being the case, it’s clear that if the Missouri Valley is going to do big things in 2011, the men of Missouri State will likely carry the banner for conference commissioner Doug Elgin. On a night infused with a large dose of high-voltage intensity, the hometown Shockers and the visiting Bears tried to see if the Valley could at least send one team other than its eventual tournament champion to the land known as Bracketville. The hope of getting one at-large team into the field is the most the Valley can expect this season. Frankly, the only way the league will get two teams (not just one) into America’s favorite tournament is if the conference champion becomes a dominant team, mowing down the opposition and registering a minimum of a 16-2 regular season record while also reaching the final of the conference tournament in St. Louis. Wichita State knew this all too well; the Shockers were cognizant of how important Sunday’s matchup with Missouri State really was. Last year, Coach Gregg Marshall’s Wichita team finished a clear second in the Valley with a 12-6 mark and then reached the finals of the conference tournament before losing to Northern Iowa. Because WSU lacked the high-value non-conference scalps that a mid-major team needs, the Shockers were left out of the NCAAs. As they returned to their home floor for a date with Missouri State, the guys in yellow jerseys knew that if they couldn’t topple Coach Cuonzo Martin’s Bears in a high-stakes showdown, their path to an at-large bid would essentially be over… yes, on the second Sunday of January. On a Monday morning in Kansas, then, the sun might have risen, but the outlook is still dark and cloudy for a squad of Shockers that knows it must now win the Missouri Valley Tournament in order to put on its dancing shoes.
Missouri State found the moxie and muscle to go into a hostile arena and survive. Martin, who was hired as MSU’s coach in 2008, spent his collegiate playing days under Gene Keady at Purdue in the 1990s. Martin takes pride in coaching his teams to be rugged and ruthless at the defensive end of the floor, and that’s exactly why the Bears are now 5-0 in the Valley and on track to become the one potential at-large team in the league. Missouri State wiped away Wichita’s highest aspirations on Sunday for no reason other than its ability to defend with distinction. This game wasn’t won by Missouri State at the offensive end of the floor. The Bears, leading 53-43 with 9:30 left in regulation, failed to score a point in the next five minutes and 46 seconds. When Missouri State scored its next points at the 3:44 mark, Wichita State had reeled off an 11-0 run to gain a one-point edge. The two teams remained locked in defense-dominated mortal combat over the final four minutes, never managing to gain any sort of separation from the other. Missouri State ultimately made just one field goal attempt in the final nine and a half minutes, scoring only six points in the process. The Bears missed two foul shots in the final minute, and they tempted the fates after losing six Valley games by four points or fewer in 2010. So much about this contest suggested that Missouri State would lose; it happened a lot last season because of the same balky offense witnessed in this staredown with the Shockers. However, unlike 2010, the 2011 Bears delivered enough defense to make their own struggles pale in comparison to what Wichita eventually endured.
The decisive element in this game was the in-your-face defense Missouri State mustered in the final minute and 40 seconds. In that span of time, Wichita State failed to score a single point. The Shockers were handcuffed by the Bears, who made every switch and defensive rotation. Wichita State committed three turnovers, two of them on possessions in the final 40 seconds of regulation. With MSU up 57-56 with 40 seconds left, Wichita committed a shot-clock violation. After the Bears’ Nafis Ricks split two foul shots to make the score 58-56, Wichita got one more chance, but guard Toure’ Murry – standing behind the 3-point arc and preparing to launch a game-winning shot – inexplicably passed the ball at the last instant with three seconds on the game clock. The pass went straight to a Wichita State teammate… a teammate in a warm-up jersey on the bench. The turnover typified the final few minutes of a low-scoring slugfest, and it also reverberated throughout the rest of the Missouri Valley season. This time, Missouri State didn’t lose a close game in the Valley. This time, the Bears’ defensive excellence managed to be better than their offensive woes. Life is hellishly similar for Wichita State, one year after falling short in the Valley. For Missouri State, however, the world looks very different… and delightfully so. Most college basketball games played on Jan. 9 don’t carry this level of resonance; that’s why a Sunday duel proved to be so thoroughly invigorating… especially for the Missouri State Bears.
By: Matt Zemek |