Wichita State Head Basketball Coach Gregg Marshall sounded a confident note in his pregame speech to the underdog Shockers as they prepared to take on the 6th-seeded Arizona Wildcats in Providence, Rhode Island.

“This is a very winnable game,” Marshall said. “You don’t have to play perfect; you just have to play well.”

It wasn’t long before all of America believed it.

11th-seeded WSU displayed a suffocating defense in jumping out to a 31-19 halftime lead. Then the Shockers piled on with a strong second-half start in building a 24-point lead before cruising to a 65-55 win in the NCAA Tournament First Round.

Fred VanVleet led four Shockers in double figures with 16 points. His backcourt-mate Ron Baker had 13 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Freshman Markis McDuffie and sophomore Conner Frankamp added 10 points apiece.

The win propels WSU into the NCAA Second Round for the fourth-successive year, where they will match up with the 3rd-seeded Miami (Fla.) Hurricane. That game will take place at 11:10 a.m. on Saturday, March 19.