Wichita State wins at Virginia Tech 78-76 in OT to advance
The Wichita State Shockers are not just one game away from making the NIT’s final four. The boys from Kansas will play their NIT quarterfinal on home hardwood.
Yes, there’s another home game in Wichita State’s future. Coach Gregg Marshall’s club used a great deal of poise down the stretch to outlast the Virginia Tech Hokies at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia. While Virginia Tech owned home-court advantage through the NIT quarterfinals as the top seed in its subregional, the Hokies and coach Seth Greenberg once again failed to reach New York City. Virginia Tech was saddled with injuries this year – several players were either knocked out of commission or played well below 80 percent (let alone 100 percent) – but just the same, the Hokies failed to gain a measure of satisfaction after being snubbed for the NCAA Tournament.
What really hurt Virginia Tech – and helped Wichita State – was the poor decision making of Hokie big man Jeff Allen. Always foul-prone and rarely able to make good decisions in the low post, Allen fouled out with over six minutes left in regulation. Yes, Virginia Tech fought back from a 63-57 deficit in the final three and a half minutes of competition, but in overtime, Allen’s absence wound up being the game’s most important determining factor. Wichita State patiently and maturely entered the ball to big man Garrett Stutz, who repeatedly scored over the top of a smaller and less seasoned backup center for the Hokies. This is what put Wichita State in a winning position at the end of overtime.
Then Joe Ragland took over.
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WSU’s point guard raced downcourt just after Virginia Tech tied the score on a Terrell Bell layup with nine seconds left in the extra period. Ragland juked one defender at the top of the key, made a brilliant spin move near the foul line to leave another Hokie in the dust, and then exploded to the hoop before kissing the ball off the window for the game-winning layup with 2.6 seconds left. Virginia Tech was not able to get a shot off on the game’s final sequence, and Wichita – by virtue of the College of Charleston’s upset of second-seeded Cleveland State – earned a home game in the NIT quarterfinals. The Shockers, as the fourth seed in their subregional, gained the right to host the sixth-seeded C of C. The game tips off on Tuesday night at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer
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