Game 9 (1:05 p.m.) #1 Northern Iowa (27-4, 15-3) vs. #2 Wichita State (25-8, 12-6)
Season Series
Today’s game will be the rubber match between the two. Both teams protected their home court. The Shockers won in Wichita 60-51. In Cedar Falls, UNI rebounded with a 59-56 win. In the tournament the teams are 1-1 against each other. Their last meeting was a 63-56 Panthers win in the 2004 semifinals. The Shockers’ win came in a 1999 play-in game, 74-72 in overtime.
Northern Iowa can win if…
…if they can keep the score low. They won their first two games by scoring 55 and 57 points, respectively. The nation’s second best scoring defense shut down both the Drake and Bradley offenses: the Panthers held Drake without a point for nearly eight minutes of game time, while the Braves managed just 10 points against UNI in a 15-minute stretch. With big wins each day, Coach Jacobson brings a rested team into the championship, a rarity in St. Louis.
Wichita State can win if…
…they do not have any long spells without scoring. UNI has used long droughts by their opponents to blow games open. WSU will need to find a way to score points, which is tough against the stout UNI defense. When Wichita State beat UNI earlier in the year, the Shox scored 60. They will need to score at least that many today to be in the game. The Shockers should have the quicker team today but after playing three games in three days, how much of their legs will they have left?
