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La Salle vs. Wichita State

How they match up in their Sweet 16 quarterfinal

WHAT

West Regional semifinal, Staples Center, Los Angeles. Thursday, 10:17 p.m. TV: TBS. Radio: WNTP (990-AM)

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HOW THEY GOT HERE

La Salle (24-9)

The Explorers defeated 13 seed Boise State, 80-71, in the play-in game; defeated 4 seed Kansas State, 63-61; defeated 12 seed Mississippi, 76-74.

Wichita State (28-8)

The Shockers defeated 8 seed Pitt, 73-55; defeated 1 seed Gonzaga, 76-70.

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LUCKY 13

La Salle is the ninth 13th seed or higher to have advanced to the Sweet 16.

1986 - No. 14 Cleveland State: lost to No. 7 Navy

1988 - No. 13 Richmond: lost to No. 1 Temple

1997 - No. 14 Chattanooga: lost to No. 10 Providence

1998 - No. 13 Valparaiso: lost to No. 8 Rhode Island

1999 - No. 13 Oklahoma: lost to No. 1 Michigan State

2006 - No. 13 Bradley: lost to No. 1 Memphis

2012 - No. 13 Ohio: lost to No. 1 North Carolina

2013 - No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast: vs. No. 3 Florida, on Friday

2013 - No. 13 La Salle: vs. No. 9 Wichita State

HISTORY

The only meeting was in 2003, a 74-71 Wichita State win.

UP NEXT

The winner gets the winner of No. 2 Ohio State (28-7) and No. 6 Arizona (27-7) on Saturday for a berth in the Final Four next weekend in Atlanta. If you are thinking way ahead, the West winner would play the Midwest winner in Georgia.

COACHES

Dr. John Giannini (La Salle), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State)

THREE THINGS LA SALLE MUST DO:

1. Continue shooting and making threes at the same pace they have so far in the tournament. The Explorers have made 27 threes to just 15 for their opponents, outscoring them by 36 points from the arc.

2. Make Wichita, a below-average three-point shooting team (33.7 percent), into an even worse three-point shooting team by pressuring the ball hard and often. La Salle's three-point defense (just 29.9 percent, 19th nationally) is one of the team's strengths.

3. Find some way to defend the rim. Wichita shoots 50.3 percent on two-point shots and they will want to get the ball inside against La Salle's undersized interior. La Salle's two-point defense (50.8 percent) is 281st out of 345 in Division I, an obvious weakness that has been exacerbated by the loss of backup big man Steve Zack.

THREE THINGS WICHITA STATE MUST DO:

1. Find a way to defend the arc. Their three-point defense (32.3 percent, 89th) is good, but not great. And they have not faced too many teams with the speed, passing ability and range of La Salle. They have to commit initial defense to the arc and help behind it against the inevitable penetration.

2. Find a way to keep La Salle's ballhandlers out of the lane. That obviously won't be easy, but, if they can't do it, the arc opens up and so does the rim.

3. Attack the rim on as many offensive possessions as possible. Wichita shot it atypically well from the arc (14-for-28) in its upset of Gonzaga, but that is not really their game. In fact, they were 2-for-20 from the arc against Pittsburgh in the second round. So the basket is where they want to live on offense.