Sluggish Shockers Squash Mustangs

(St. Louis, MO) – Number 35 wasn’t pretty, but it is in the books and the Shockers have their first NCAA tournament win of 2014. It wasn’t that the Shockers played poorly, but there just wasn’t much energy to the game.

Maybe it was because the NCAA, in it’s infinite wisdom scheduled the games here at Scottrade Center so closely that while emptying and re-filling the building there were practically no fans in the stands at the start of the contest. Maybe the Shockers were getting used to their new uniforms, but whatever the reason, the outcome is all that matters and Wichita State is 35-0 and headed to the third round of the ‘Big Dance.’

One guy that wasn’t sluggish was Cleanthony Early. Right from the beginning he was playing with confidence and a swagger. The Senior from New York scored eight of the team’s first 11 points on his way to a 23 point performance. He was hitting threes (3 of them) and slashing to the basket. The Shockers won it 64 to 37.

Cal-Poly (14-20) didn’t provide much resistance and that kind of dragged the Shockers into a lethargic pattern of their own. The Mustangs shot just 21% from the field and WSU out rebounded them 46 to 34.

Shocker guard Tekele Cotton and reserve Nick Wiggins both said their team wasn’t affected by the late arriving fans.

Wichita State Head Coach Gregg Marshall is now 6 and 9 in NCAA tournament games with four of them coming last season.

There were some brand new uniforms for this first game of the March Madness and Cotton and Wiggins said they liked their new threads.

The dream season continues for Wichita State. A least until Sunday.

Do Good