With an exciting overtime finish against Northwestern last week, the Washington State University Cougars now prepare for the final four of the NIT, with the Coug’s first game against Wichita State University tomorrow at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Shockers, part of the Missouri Valley Conference, finished the regular season 14-4 in conference and 27-8 overall. Wichita State’s leading scorer J.T. Durley averages over 11 points game, with junior David Kyles short behind averaging over 9 points per game. However, both seem meager when compared to the 22 points per game Washington State’s Klay Thompson averages on a given night.
“It will be interesting to see how the two match up,” senior Katie Tucci said, an avid fan of Cougar basketball. “When Klay is in the zone, he can’t miss. If he plays the way he has been earlier in the tournament I think Wichita will have some problems.”
Wichita State appeared in the NIT last year as well, but was ousted by Nevada in the first round. Similarly the Cougars played in the NIT in 2009, but also fell in the first round to Saint Mary’s.
“We are a much stronger team than we were two years ago,” Tucci said. “They have better team chemistry and I think they have learned what it takes to win under a high pressure environment. I know they can win this game.”
The battle between WSU and WSU will take place at 4pm tomorrow on ESPN2.
No comments:
Post a Comment