Another loss has injury-plagued Wichita State in a tough spot
It's still only November, yet Wichita State is already in big trouble.
The Shockers are running out of opportunities to amass the quality wins they'll need to land an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
Shorthanded as a result of injuries to star point guard Fred VanVleet, key backup Landry Shamet and top big man Anton Grady, Wichita State fell 84-62 to Iowa on Sunday, sealing a last-place finish at the Advocare Invitational in Orlando. The preseason top 10 Shockers are now 2-4 overall after previous losses to Tulsa, USC and Alabama.
Other programs from stronger conferences can overcome a poor start by stacking quality wins during league play, but Wichita State doesn't have that luxury. The Shockers have to get most of their marquee victories in November and December because the Missouri Valley Conference seldom produces more than one or two NCAA tournament-caliber teams.
Wichita State's remaining schedule before the start of league play consists of home games against Utah, UNLV, Nevada and New Mexico State and road games against Saint Louis and Seton Hall. Of those six foes, Utah is the only one in the KenPom top 50 and only the Utes, Seton Hall and UNLV even crack the top 100.
It's imperative that the Shockers win a couple of those games and avoid any more bad non-league losses, or their margin for error in conference play will vanish altogether. The only KenPom top 100 foes Wichita State will face in the Valley are Northern Iowa (No. 47) and Evansville (No. 75).
The selection committee has the right to take injuries into account when evaluating a team, but it's extremely rare for a team without quality wins to receive an at-large bid. Should Wichita State be unable to build an at-large-caliber resume, its only path to the NCAA tournament would be by winning three games in three days during Arch Madness.
It's somewhat shocking to find Wichita State in this position considering all that the Shockers have achieved the past few years. This is a team that went to the 2013 Final Four, that finished the 2014 regular season with an unbeaten record and that upset in-state rival Kansas in the NCAA tournament last March to advance to the Sweet 16.
A combination of injuries and a lack of depth has been Wichita State's undoing so far this season. Standout guard Ron Baker has been forced to do far too much because the Shockers simply don't have enough guys around him that can generate offense.
In Wichita State's four losses, Baker is averaging 17.5 points per game but shooting only 37.5 percent from the field. He was 2-for-9 on Sunday against Iowa as the Shockers shot 35.6 percent from the floor as a team and 6 of 22 from behind the arc.
One bright spot for Wichita State has been its domination of the offensive glass, but not nearly enough of those second-chance opportunities have turned into points. The Shockers are shooting 38.3 percent as a team and don't have a single player besides Baker who averages double figures.
That should change once VanVleet returns from the hamstring and ankle injuries that have been bothering him and Grady comes back after the scary fall he took Friday against Alabama.
With losses piling up and chances for quality wins dwindling, the Shockers have to hope that happens soon.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
