Last year, the Wichita State Shockers were the Cinderella story of the tournament. They entered the tournament undefeated before falling to Kentucky in the Round 32. This year, they are certainly not flying under the radar, but have the most tournament experience of any team. Five players from last year's squad remain on the team, four of them having gone to the Final Four two years ago. That could help or hurt the Shockers as they prepare to face the youngest team of the tournament in the Indiana Hoosiers.
So far, experience in the tournament has meant nothing. On Thursday, experienced units like Iowa State and Baylor went down to teams like UAB and Georgia State, so Wichita State is not counting on anything right now. Coming in as the No. 7 seed, they are no longer the underdog, but hope to continue playing as such. Familiar faces like Tekele Cotton, Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker, Evan Wessel and Darius Carter all have tournament experience, but this is a new year and new run.
The Hoosiers come in as the No. 10 seed after losing nine of their last 14 games. They looked at risk of nothing making the tournament altogether before putting together a late-season run. The roster consists of eight freshmen which is tied with Louisville for the youngest team as they average 1.73 years of experience. Kevin Ferrell is the only player with significant tournament experience which might hurt Indiana in the long run.
Indiana did get some good news as Hanner Mosquera-Perea is expected to play. He is Indiana's best inside option, but injured his right knee while playing against Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament. Emmitt Holt will also play a big role for the team. He was crucial in the Big Ten Tournament, getting eight points and four rebounds in just 15 minutes of play when the team defeated Northwestern. He had an even bigger game with six points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in the loss the Maryland. Indiana will be counting on another big showing for Holt against Wichita State.
Indiana did not end their regular season on a high note, but managed to pull things together in the conference tournament. Wichita State will continue to play with a chip on their shoulder and the Hoosiers must match the intensity to remain competitive.
