The No. 9 seed Wichita State Shockers beat the No. 8 seed Pittsburgh Panthers and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament in the West Region Thursday afternoon, 73-55.
The first half of this game was a prototypical example of a back-and-forth match. In the first 18 minutes of play, neither team could grab more than a two point lead. There were 10 ties with six lead changes.
The Shockers were finally able to take control by finishing the half with a 7-0 run and took a 26-21 lead into halftime. They also started the second half with a 4-0 run to push their lead to nine. Wichita State never relinquished control of the game. Although Pittsburgh made several small runs, the Shockers always answered, and their lead steadily grew for the remainder of the game.
Malcolm Armstead led the Shockers with 22 points and five assists. Cleanthony Early contributed 21 points and seven rebounds while Carl Hall added 11 points.
Steven Adams led the Panthers with 13 points and 11 rebounds. He was 5-7 shooting from the floor.
Both teams struggled to find their range. The Panthers hit only one of 17 attempted 3-pointers while the Shockers made two out of 20. Wichita State likely won this game at the line. The Shockers attempted 41 free throws and made 33 of them. The Panthers made 16 of 20 attempted free throws.
Wichita State will face the No. 1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday. The time is still to be determined. Gonzaga advanced after beating No. 16 seed Southern University in the second round, 64-58.
For more information, visit www.NCAA.com
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