Wichita State Gets 2013 NCAA Tournament’s First Upset Victory

Wichita State got the first upset win of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The Shockers toppled the Pittsburgh Panthers on Thursday afternoon 73-55.

While Butler looked like they might be the first higher seed to get knocked off early in the tourney, they were able to hang on against Bucknell.

Wichita State is the #9 seed in the West bracket and hammered the #8 seeded Panthers so the magnitude of the upset wasn’t all that impressive.

The Shockers (27-8) were led in scoring by Malcolm Armstead who had 22 points and Cleanthony Early who added 21. While they had some fantastic scoring performances it was the defense that really allowed the Shockers to get the win.

Wichita State held Pittsburgh to just 35 percent shooting on the game and the Panthers were a miserable 1 for 17 from beyond the three-point arc.

Pittsburgh’s leading scorer, Tray Woodall was the leading culprit when it came to cold shooting for the team that just finished its final season in the Big East conference.

Woodall missed his first four shots of the game and finished just 1 for 12 from the field. The Missouri Valley conference runner up Shockers forced 15 turnovers and scored 21 points off of those turnovers.

Wichita also made the most of their trips to the free throw line. The Shockers ended up hitting 33 of 41 free throw attempts.

Wichita State finished second to the newest Big East conference member Creighton in the Missouri Valley’s regular season and conference tournament.

WSU never really struggled in this game, leading 26-21 at the half and busting it wide open in the second half by outscoring Pittsburgh 47-34 in the second period.

The loss marked more NCAA Tournament disappointment for Pitt, which failed to make the Big Dance last year and lost in the round of 32 against Butler in 2011.

The Wichita State Shockers will now get to relax and watch the game between top seeded Gonzaga and Southern University.