At the end of the final practice before No. 19 Wichita State plays Temple on Thursday at Koch Arena, senior Rashard Kelly had a message for the team.
He looked his teammates in their eyes and told them to remember the feeling two weeks ago in Philadelphia when Temple stunned the Shockers, beating WSU 81-79 in overtime. Remember the Temple fans gleefully rushing the court to celebrate. Remember the silent plane ride home.
Neither team has lost since, as Temple (15-10, 7-6 American) has won five straight to play its way back into NCAA Tournament talk and WSU (19-5, 9-3) has strung together consecutive 20-point wins since the setback.