Men’s basketball to face familiar foe in Wichita State
VCU faced Wichita State in last season's NCAA tournament. Photo by Chris Conway.
Jim Swing
Sports Editor
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The past two seasons have developed a relationship between VCU and Wichita State like that of a set of step-siblings.
The Rams and Shockers don’t belong to the same conference but they’ve been paired together three times in as many years.
And if the two teams share a bond similar to step-siblings, VCU has been the bigger, stronger older brother picking on Wichita State.
But each fight has been a narrow battle.
The two teams were matched together in ESPN BracketBusters in 2011, where the Rams beat the Shockers 68-67 thanks to a pair of free throws by Joey Rodriguez with eight-tenths of a second remaining. The win helped boost VCU into receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the Rams later advanced to the Final Four. Wichita State went on to win the National Invitation Tournament.
VCU poured it on a year later, edging the Shockers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in a nail-biter that came down to the final seconds.
The two teams will meet for the third straight year Tuesday night at the Siegel Center where they’ve never faced each other.
In terms of personnel, VCU and Wichita State enter the season on completely opposite ends of the spectrum.
The Shockers lost the stout backcourt trio of Joe Ragland, Toure’ Murry and David Kyles to graduation along with the towering presence of 7-foot-tall center Garrett Stutz. What Wichita State does have is a class of four rather inexperienced seniors complemented by a strong recruiting class.
Carl Hall, a 6-foot-8, 238-pound braided bruiser is the Shockers rock. Hall had 10 points and eight rebounds — five on the offensive glass — against VCU in last season’s tournament. Hall is joined in the frontcourt by fellow senior Ehimen Orukpe, a seven-footer who played a small role in the Shockers’ lineup last season, but will look to make an impact in his final year.
In the backcourt, Wichita State boasts senior Demetric Williams, a guard once recruited by VCU, who’s been sitting behind other guards for the majority of his career. Joining him is Malcolm Armstead, a transfer from Oregon, who sat out the 2011-2012 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Armstead averaged 8.6 points per game and 4.4 assists in one year at Oregon, and adds veteran experience to the Shockers squad.
On the other hand, VCU returns a steady roster of six upperclassmen and four sophomores to go with head coach Shaka Smart’s best recruiting class to date, losing only Bradford Burgess to graduation in the offseason.
But where VCU and Wichita State can familiarize is starting the current season off on the right foot.
The Rams beat, battered and bruised a middling Florida Gulf Coast team to the tune of 25 turnovers, which led to a 23-point victory last week.
Similarly, the Shockers took care of North Carolina Central, out-rebounding the Eagles 43-25 en route to a double-digit win.
Tuesday night will serve as an evaluation point for two teams that will face their first true tests of the season.
“It’s all based on who you’re playing.” Smart said following Friday night’s win. “This was certainly a step up in competition from our exhibition game last week and our next game against Wichita State will be a step up in competition from tonight.”
