Wichita State outlasted Siena 72-70 at the Milk House this morning. Wichita State’s Clevin Hannah was unstoppable from three in the second half. The Shockers did a great job slowing down the game, taking long possessions, and hitting deep threes. Siena mostly beat themselves with turnovers. Kenny Hasbrouck finished the game with 20 points (7/7 from the free throw line), but still struggled and came up short on a last second drive down the lane to tie the game.

Notes:

  • Hasbrouck still couldn’t seem to get it going– teams are prepared for him. Give him credit for a few clutch baskets and free throws, but the last miss will haunt him.
  • Ronald Moore is playing the point well, but seems like he’s been over matched trying to take his defender one on one in this entire tournament.
  • Ubiles was today’s best player, dropping 20 points and snagging 9 rebounds.
  • Alex Franklin played well, but had a few turnovers that hurt Siena down the stretch. He seems to have started to find some trouble from the charity stripe since halftime yesterday.

First off, how funny is it that this team is nicknamed the Shockers? The coverage on ESPNU gave Disney World some nice PR (for those who don’t know ESPN is a owned by Disney).

Siena again did not defend the three and Wichita State was able to capitalize when Siena was in a half court trap. It was a very interesting game to watch, very painful actually.

For all of the people calling us a veteran team; we didn’t look very poised down the stretch.

Let’s get it out there now, Siena’s biggest problem (uncharacteristically) is turnovers. However they are also having trouble being consistent, even with the same lineup. They come out of the gate on fire, but can’t seem to maintain their intensity. This is a tough loss for the kids, but ultimately, one I think they needed.

Len Elmore kept talking about this game being a must win for a team trying to put together an at-large bid, and I totally agree. Siena fans keep playing the respect card, well, if you want respect, you’ve got to go out and beat this Wichita State team convincingly. Are we just another MAAC team? It’s going to take a lot (a win over Kansas or Pitt) to convince the coaches, Associated Press, and me that we aren’t. I don’t think we’ll be seeing any lingering Top 25 votes anymore.

2008-09 Regular Season, Alex Franklin, Edwin Ubiles, ESPNU, Old Spice Classic, Ronald Moore, Ryan Rossiter, Wichita State