With ESPN's College GameDay in town, there was much hype surrounding today's premiere MVC matchup. It was a tussle for the it all, as the winner would take home the Missouri Valley regular season championship and send a statement to the rest of the nation that they will be ready for the NCAA tournament.

Behind arguably the best and most fluid backcourt in the nation, the Wichita State Shockers showed they are still the class of the Missouri Valley, by nailing 11 threes and using impressive defense against UNI's Seth Tuttle, winning 74-60 in front of over 10,000 fans.

The trio of multi-talented PG Fred Van Vleet, sharpshooter Ron Baker, and powerful guard Tekele Cotton led the charge for the veteran Shocks, combining for 41 of WSU's 74. Van Vleet, as he has all season, was the awe-inspiring floor-leader, dishing out 7 assists and grabbing 6 rebounds along with his 13 points. Ron Baker led Wichita State in scoring with 17 points, 6-12 shooting overall. Evan Wessel was also possessing a hot hand, Cotton's energy was felt throughout the game, but will be remembered for this thunderous dunk near the end of the game:

Northern Iowa left the passing lanes open during this game, while the Shockers did not. That was the difference of the game, with UNI being forced to throw up ill-advised shots. Seth Tuttle was able to score 16 points, as it's almost impossible to stop the Wooden Award candidate, but he was not able to find many outside shooters. Matt Bohannon was open a few times for some timely threes to keep Northern Iowa in the game, and Paul Jesperson came alive late, but there just wasn't enough in the tank for the Panthers to contend.

Wes Washpun was a critical factor for the Panthers' win over WSU last month, but was near a non-factor today, scoring 8 points on 3-8 shooting. The PG had 1 rebound and no assists on a disheartening day for UNI.

We can only hope that we see these two meet again in 'Arch Madness' in STL in the MVC tournament championship, as this rivalry is really budding. However, there is no contesting the fact that these two teams are both contenders come the real March Madness in the NCAA tournament, as it will be fun to see if they can go the distance. The MVC tournament starts on March 5th.