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16 Shockers about La Salle's opponent

A lesson on Wichita State.

Wichita State's Cleanthony Early (11) celebrates after his team defeated Gonzaga 76-70 during a third-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Salt Lake City Saturday, March 23, 2013. (Rick Bowmer/AP)
Wichita State's Cleanthony Early (11) celebrates after his team defeated Gonzaga 76-70 during a third-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Salt Lake City Saturday, March 23, 2013. (Rick Bowmer/AP)Read more

1 The Shockers (28-8) started the season 15-1, including solid wins at Virginia Commonwealth and against Iowa. A loss at Southern Illinois (RPI 193) is the most unattractive on their slate.

2 Wichita State's nickname is a derivative of the original moniker "Wheatshockers," which is the practice of harvesting wheat. It has nothing to do with the profane yet humorous "Shocker" gesture that occasionally shows up in college and high school yearbooks.

3 The Shockers ran into Tim Tebow on Sunday when they got back to Wichita after beating Gonzaga to get to the Sweet 16. Tebow's plane was refueling and the Jets quarterback got on the team bus and addressed the squad.

4 The Wichita Eagle called the Gonzaga win the second-best in WSU history. The first was the 1965 victory over Oklahoma State, which put the Shockers into the Final Four. They lost to Gail Goodrich and eventual-champion UCLA a week later in a national semifinal game.

5 Wichita State's enrollment is about 15,000, about twice as much as La Salle.

6 In 1970, a plane carrying members of the football team and some fans crashed outside of Denver. Thirty-one people were killed.

7 Cleanthony Early, a 6-8 forward, can be a handful coming off the bench. He scored 21 points against Pittsburgh in the Shockers' first NCAA Tournament game and followed it up with 16 vs. Gonzaga. Early had 39 against Southern Illinois in January, the most by a Wichita State player since Xavier McDaniel had 43 against Bradley in 1985.

8 McDaniel is the most prominent basketball player to come out of Wichita State, but baseball player Joe Carter is the most notorious to Philadelphia fans.

9 Head coach Gregg Marshall spent nine seasons at Winthrop before taking the Wichita State job in 2007. The signature win in his climb up the coaching ladder was when 11th-seeded Winthrop upset 6th-seeded Notre Dame in the 2007. Oddly, La Salle coach John Giannini currently is in his ninth year at 20th & Olney.

10 Shortly after taking the Wichita State job, Marshall went to New Hampshire to watch signee Guy Alang-Ntang, who was recruited by predecessor Mark Turgeon. After chatting with Marshall for 45 minutes, Alang-Ntang died of heart failure on the court in front of his future coach.

11 The Shockers were 11-20 in Marshall's first season, but have won at least 25 games each of the last 4 years. La Salle was 10-19 in Giannini's first year (2004-05).

12 Sophomore guard Evan Wessel started the first eight games before a broken pinkie ended his season. He was averaging 19 minutes and a little more than five points per game. La Salle center Steve Zack, who hasn't played since March 2 because of sprained left foot, has been cleared to play, but will be limited.

13 Wichita State won the NIT 2 years ago, but the only current player who appeared in the championship game victory over Alabama is senior guard Demetric Williams. Most of the roster is made up of underclassmen and transfers.

14 Wichita State has been outrebounded just three times in 36 games. By comparison, La Salle has been beaten on the glass 23 times in 33 games. Just one illustration of their different styles.

15 Shooter Ron Baker missed 21 games with a stress fracture in his left foot before returning for the MVC Tournament. Baker was inserted back into the starting lineup for the NCAA Tournament and made four of his six three-point attempts in the win over Gonzaga.

16 La Salle will need to hit perimeter shots and get plenty of loft on those Southwest Philly Floaters to neutralize 7-0 senior center Ehimen Orukpe (pronounced Auh-hee-may O-Roo-Pay). Orukpe, a native of Nigeria, had trouble qualifying academically early in his college career, but this year made the Missouri Valley Conference's all-academic team. His grade-point average of 3.52 is higher than his points per game of 2.76.