Wichita St. Shockers 75, Washington St. Cougars 44
The consistently inconsistent squad from Pullman finally met its end in the NIT semifinal in Madison Square Garden against a team that's been consistently consistent all season.
Wichita State owned almost all the major categories of the game. As expected, they won the rebounding battle thoroughly--the Shockers grabbed 52 rebounds compared to 25 for the Cougars, and 18 offensive rebounds compared to 6 for WSU. Garrett Stutz led the way inside with 11 boards (3 offensive), and Gabe Blair added 9 rebounds.With so many addtional opportunities. Blair and Stutz also had their way in the paint, shooting 15 of 18 from the field for 34 points, Toure Murry added 13, and that was practically almost all the Shockers needed.
The defense of the Shockers was apparently very formidable. Washington State could not shoot, making only 29% of their shots from the field (Wichita was just around their season average at 47.7%). Klay Thompson was 1 for 10, Reggie Moore went 2 for 8, DeAngelo Casto was 3 for 8, Brock Motum and Marcus Capers combined to go 2 for 7. Wichita State's average three point defense was more than enough to keep the Cougars down. WSU took ten threes, and clanged all of them.
Wichita State moves onto face Alabama (who beat Colorado) in the NIT tournament championship Thursday night in New York City. For more reaction from the losing fanbase, head over to CougCenter.