The Wichita State Shockers are playing Indiana State on Wednesday night and they come into the game undefeated as the number four team in the nation and they have the chance to go on a run if they can get past this next part of the schedule and the matchup will be on the road for Wichita and will be streaming live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN website from the Hulman Center at 8:05 pm ET.
The Shockers already made a name for themselves with a run to the Final Four and now they are looking to become the first team in decades to make it to the NCAA Tournament undefeated. The team has been getting some great play from Fred VanVleet and Cleanthony Early, who is leading the team in scoring and now they have matchups against two of the toughest teams left on their schedule. The Missouri Valley Conference gives the team a mostly easy schedule, but Indiana State and Northern Iowa are both tough teams and the matchups are both on the road. The Shockers come into the game after a win against Evansville and while they are the fourth ranked team in the nation, they have only beaten one team in the Top 25, but that hasn't stopped them from rising in the ranks.
Wichita State has four of the next five games on the road and getting past this stretch will give the team a good chance of entering their conference tournament undefeated and if that happens, the Shockers really could shock the NCAA. The team comes in averaging over 74 points per game this season and they are ranked 17th in the nation in rebounds per game and that gives the Shockers some strength up front. The defense has been very good on the boards and ranks in the top 20 and the team is 11th in points allowed this year and while that is a virtue of the team schedule, the school has played teams like Alabama, BYU, Tennessee and Davidson.
Early is leading the team in scoring and rebounding while VanVleet is tops in assists and those two players will be the main focus on Wednesday night. The last a team went undefeated into the tournament was back in 1991 with UNLV and Larry Bird's team from Indiana State went 33-0 and lost the national title to Michigan State and now that same school can knock off Wichita on Wednesday night. The school is having a big moment after being led to the final four behind some great play from Ron Baker and the team is coming into the game after going down 15 points in their last game before coming back to win. The team can shoot and play defense and since they play in an "easy" conference, they have the chance to go undefeated.
Check here for the Wichita State and Indiana State live coverage.
