Sports

Unbeaten yet unloved, Wichita State out to make statement against closest Valley rivals

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Wichita State's Cleanthony Early celebrates after hitting a 3-point basket against Evansville during a first-half rally of an NCAA college basketball game in Wichita, Kan., Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying) LOCAL TV OUT; MAGAZINES OUT; LOCAL RADIO OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT (The Associated Press)

Wichita State's Tekele Cotton, right, and Kadeem Coleby, left, battle Evansville's Blake Simmons for a rebound during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Wichita, Kan., Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying) LOCAL TV OUT; MAGAZINES OUT; LOCAL RADIO OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT (The Associated Press)

There aren't a whole lot of statement games on Wichita State's schedule this season.

Two of them are coming up in a matter of days.

The unbeaten Shockers are headed to Indiana State on Wednesday night, followed by a trip to Northern Iowa on Saturday. Those two teams are the closest — albeit still distant — contenders behind the fourth-ranked Shockers in the Missouri Valley race.

They are arguably the two teams with the best chance of dealing Wichita State (23-0, 10-0) a defeat before the start of their conference tournament March 6.

Top-ranked Syracuse is also unbeaten at 21-0. The last team to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten was UNLV in 1991.