Koch Arena

Wichita State University's Koch Arena prepares for a big celebration Friday afternoon. The Shocker basketball team is expected at the arena around 5:00 p.m. to celebrate its N.I.T. Championship with Shocker fans. Crews spent the afternoon setting up seats for the players, testing equipment and getting the place ready. Wichita police will escort the Shockers from the airport to Koch Arena.  The team is on a private charter flight and is expected to land around 4:30 p.m. Watch the celebration LIVE AT KWCH.COM when it begins.

Led by Carl Hall with 19 points, the Shockers won it's fourth game of the season over Cal-State Fullerton, 75-60 at Koch Arena. Joe Ragland had 15 points and David Kyles followed with 14 to get the victory over the Titans. The game was sluggish from the start as neither team shot the ball well in the opening minutes. Demetric Williams finally hit a basket after six and a half minutes to keep the Shockers ahead. Wichita State (4-2) lead by only four at halftime before opening things up in the second half for a 15 point lead at the final buzzer.

Two words describe Koch Arena, loud and proud. Wichita State student Paige Baker says, "We support our team so much and we are so loud. It's got to be overwhelming to not be from here and to be in this arena. " Student Reid Warfield says, "I'm trying to reach the Wichita State players and I'm trying to get into the head of the other team. " As is every fan in the house. That's why ESPN calls Koch Arena the 7th toughest place to play in the country . Student Ryan Arnold says, "I love this team and so does everybody else.

Wichita State had four players score in double figures and eight more men put points on the board as it rolled to an 85-42 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday night. The Shockers (17-3, 8-1 Missouri Valley) got 11 points from Carl Hall, Joe Ragland and David Kyles and 10 points from Jake White. Ehimen Orukpe grabbed nine rebounds for Wichita State and White had eight. Dantiel Daniels scored 12 points to lead Southern Illinois (6-14, 3-6). Wichita State broke an early tie with a 13-0 run and never looked back.

The Shockers took the floor at Koch Arena Friday, looking for a big win.  But the players weren't the only one's working hard at the arena.  A 5th grader from Remington Middle School was hard at work, doing something no other girl has done before. Among the three pointers and the blocks, sits on of WSU's biggest fans.  "I love basketball it's my favorite sport," said Caitlin Crisp.  The 10-year-old gets a rare view of this year's Shocker team, doing a job that you may not think a girl would want to do.  "Not most girls want to do it because they have to wipe up boys sweat.

It takes a lot of power to put on a Wichita State basketball game, especially inside the arena. The lights, the scoreboard, the noise are all typical parts to the production. But not usually on a day like this. "We have a power outage and classes have had to be cancelled since about 8:10 to 8:15 this morning," said Beth Epps, Wichita State Professor. Parts of the campus, including Koch Arena, lost electricity for about an hour. "We talked to Westar and went through their issues and made sure as they were trouble shooting and as they found their issues that there wasn't anything out there that potentially could affect us," said Brad Pittman, Associate Athletic Director of Facilities and Game Operations.

Using the momentum from their win over VCU, Wichita State ripped off another win, 79-63, over Western Carolina to remain unbeaten. Wichita State (3-0) led 46-27 over the Catamounts (1-2) at halftime and were never truly pushed in the game. They led 8-0 at the first timeout, using long range shooting from Evan Wessel and Ron Baker. That opened up the middle for the Shockers to let Ehimen Orukpe and Carl Hall to get tough baskets. Western Carolina got as close as two points before Hall slammed home a dunk and brought the crowd back in it. Catamounts weren't afraid to shoot the ball against the pressure of the Shocker defense.

Haleigh Lankster scored a game-high 20 points as the Wichita State Shockers (10-5) beat Creighton (6-8) 65-58 Sunday afternoon at Koch Arena. The win is the 7th straight for Wichita State and puts them at 4-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  This is the best ever conference start for a Wichita State women's team. Jody Adams' team has the week off of games and will next host Missouri State this Saturday at Koch Arena.

Coming off their latest win over University of Alabama-Birmingham last week, Wichita State will face Cal-State Fullerton tonight at Koch Arena. The Shockers (3-2) will look to improve their shooting percentage against the Titans. WSU is scoring well, but not shooting well. WSU hosts nationally ranked UNLV on Sunday at Koch Arena, a part of the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Conference matchup. Eyewitness Sports will have the Shocker game covered starting at 6 and 10 p.m.  

Wichita State's Shocker basketball team was in NYC for their NIT victory; the cheers from their fans in Wichita may have been heard that far away. Thursday night, Wichita State beat the Alabama Crimson Tide, 66-57.  Across Wichita, fans watched it happen.  Some stayed home and watched it on their own Tv's.  About 200 people packed the Fox and Hound on Wichita's east side to watch it with the WSU Alumni Association.   Many went to Koch Arena, which opened for a special viewing of the game on the big screens over the Shocker's Home Court.  "It's been a lot of ups and downs," said student Jaren Glaser, "but its great to see the team reach its potential.

Graduation ceremonies for two schools were postponed due to the weather conditions Sunday.  Most of them just happened later in the day, but two were rescheduled altogether. Independent School canceled graduation last night, it's now scheduled for today at 4:00 at the Upper School gym. The school says their featured speaker will not be able to attend the ceremony. Maize High School canceled it's graduation, too. It's been rescheduled for Wednesday at 7:00 at Koch Arena.

The Wichita State Shockers are back home. After the team landed, a police escort led the bus to Koch arena where thousands of fans were waiting to welcome them home.    Coach Gregg Marshall and his team walked into to the sound of the Shocker nation chanting their name. Definitely a warm welcome home after a long road trip to the Final Four. "It's a great outpouring of love and energy and passion, kinda the way we play," Coach Marshall said. "We play the way our fans support.

Take a look at the Georgia Dome. Look at every single cubic foot of the massive stadium and you'll realize it isn't anywhere near Koch Arena. With it's huge stage, it's not even the Staples Center. The home of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League is the home to the Final Four this week for the first time since 2007. Click here for Behind the Scenes photos "It's awe inspiring when you take the normal steps to head out to the gym floor," said Head Coach Gregg Marshall.

You've seen WU Shock in all shapes and sizes. Big and small, painted on the floor of Devlin Court at Koch Arena or stuck across anything a Shocker sticker can stick to. But his best form is on the court for a Shocker basketball game, dancing around to the cheers of the fans from all over Wichita. But exactly who is WU Shock? We aimed to find out. Click here for photos of Wu Shock We found the identity of the WU Shock but he wanted to remain anonymous. We will call him Felix and he has been the team's mascot for two seasons and by day, he's just a normal student.

The Wichita State Shockers are in Atlanta for the Final Four.  The basketball team, pep band and cheerleaders left Wednesday afternoon. They boarded buses at Koch Arena around 3:30.  While no official send-off was planned, several fans showed up to wish them luck. Click here for photos of the team leaving Now that they are in Atlanta, the team will have an open practice Friday.  They will also hold a pre-game press conference at 10:40 a.m.  Eyewitness News will stream the press conference at kwch.com and also air it on KSCW.

As we follow the WSU Shockers to the Final Four, we will have some special coverage. We plan to cut-in on KSCW Wenesday as the team leaves Koch Arena. Thursday, several of our crews will be with the Shockers in Atlanta. Friday will mean a special broadcast March to Atlanta on KWCH at 6:30. You'll see the WSU game against Louisville Saturday afternoon/evening on KWCH. If the Shockers win, Monday night's championship game will be preceded by a half hour special at 7:30.

Some call it a curse, others say it's an honor.  The Wichita State Shockers have made the big time, they are on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The cover showcasing the Shockers is one of three regional covers - one with the Shockers, one with Louisville and a third cover featuring Tiger Woods. The Wichita State cover shows Cleanthony Early, Carl Hall, CJ Lufile and Demetric Williams celebrating their win over Ohio State. Those players as well as Coach Gregg Marshall are talking with the media Tuesday.  CBS and ESPN are in town talking to the team about Saturday's game.

The Wichita State Shockers are headed to the Final Four.  The #9 ranked Shockers defeated #2 ranked Ohio State 70-66 Saturday night. This is the first Final Four appearance for the  Shockers in 48 years.  They last went in 1965 and lost to UCLA.  They will play again next Saturday in Atlanta.  They'll face either Duke or Louisville who play Sunday night. Click here for game photos The team will head back to Wichita Saturday night.  They are expected to arrive at Koch Arena at three o'clock Sunday morning.  A rally is not planned at this time because of the late hour.

After beating Gonzaga, the next step on the "Road to the Final Four"... was to get on a bus at Koch Arena. "It definitely feels more exciting in this round because we're further in the tournament,” Shocker player Ron Baker said. The Shockers are in the Sweet 16.  They'll meet LaSalle in L.A.  WSU Coach Gregg Marshall says the Shox will need to respond to LaSalle's different style of play. "They've got to get mentally and physically prepared to stop them and hopefully continue to shoot the ball really well,” Marshall said.

Wichita State arrived to a hero's welcome at Koch Arena Sunday, fresh off their win over Gonzaga sending the Shockers to the Sweet 16. WSU heads back to the fourth round for the first time since 2006. Fans piled into the Roundhouse to welcome back Wichita State, and Gregg Marshall fired up the troops with chants of, "You don't want to go to war with Wichita State!" Marshall said this ride that his team is on currently, is unlike anything he's ever been a part of. "I've never gone into the second weekend before, I've won games but not multiple games and now we have an opportunity to win even more," Marshall said by the locker room.