basketball

It’s crunch time for Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita as crews finish the final preparations for next week’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games.

This weekend, crews will be installing the NCAA’s hardwood court that arrived in Wichita this week. Carpet and seating will be added around the perimeter of the court. Most of the signage inside the arena will be covered.

Intrust and SMG General Manager A.J. Boleski says planning started in 2014 when Wichita was selected to host the games.

Post-game:  

The Wichita State shockers fell to Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament losing 65-57. The game marks the end of an era for WSU senior guards Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet as well as forward Evan Wessel. The trio’s streak at WSU included Three Missouri Valley Conference titles and one MVC Tournament title.

Post-game:

Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker combined for 29 points and Wichita State’s swarming defense did the rest as the Shockers beat Arizona 65-55 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Wichita State (26-8) will play Miami (26-7), the third seed in the South Region, on Saturday.

Wichita State’s Ron Baker was named Sunday to the U.S. basketball team that will compete later this month in the Pan American Games in Toronto. His Shocker teammate Fred VanVleet did not make the final cut.

The official roster for the team was announced Sunday after the 16 finalists’ last practice at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Baker and VanVleet, both seniors at Wichita State, were among 16 who advanced before the final cut was made Sunday.

The dull, grey days of January are at hand.

Against the backdrop of the 2012 summer Olympics a small Kansas town is working to spread the word about their 1936 Olympic gold medal winning basketball stars with a new documentary.

The McPherson Globe Refiners aren’t a well-known basketball team.

They were sponsored by the Globe Refining Company and affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union or AAU - the standard back in the early 20th century.

They were also short lived, but in their two-year existence they won 2nd place in the AAU championships in 1935, then 1st place in 1936.