New Mexico players celebrate after upsetting eighth-ranked Wichita State 71-68 in the Las Vegas Classic on Friday night at the Orleans Arena. The Lobos will meet Kansas State in the final tonight at 7:30. Photo by The Associated Press.

The news came at 4:30 p.m., right around the time the Wichita State basketball team was getting ready to board its bus to the Orleans Arena.

P.J. Couisnard, the Shockers' second-leading scorer, was bedridden in his hotel room with a stomach virus and wouldn't play against New Mexico on Friday night in the Las Vegas Classic.

It was an upsetting omen.

The Lobos, despite losing star J.R. Giddens to a sprained left ankle early in the second half, got arguably the biggest win in coach Ritchie McKay's five years at the school, holding off the eighth-ranked Shockers, 71-68.

"I think we got tired of hearing about what we're not," McKay said of his embattled team, which despite improving to 9-2 hasn't gotten much respect. "But we've got a confident group, and they decided they had worked too hard to lose this game."

Instead of the expected all-Kansas showdown between Wichita State and Kansas State in tonight's 7:30 championship game, the Wildcats get a chance to avenge a 78-54 loss to New Mexico on Nov. 21.

That night, the Wildcats played without freshman sensation Bill Walker. Tonight, they'll have the 6-foot-6-inch Walker, who scored 19 points in Kansas State's 68-55 win over Southern California.

Wichita State (9-1) lost for the first time since falling to George Mason in the NCAA Tournament's round of 16 last March.

Before a sparse crowd estimated at 600, the Shockers went 1-for-10 from 3-point range in falling behind 33-19 at halftime. There was little doubt they missed Couisnard, who averages 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds.

"It just hit us," Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon said. "We weren't ready for that. But that's not the reason we lost. New Mexico played their tails off. They really guarded, and thank God there was a halftime or we would have lost by 30."

With Chad Toppert (10 points) and Tony Danridge (17 points) hitting key shots and former Foothill High School star Jamaal Smith running the team at point guard, the Lobos held off a late charge by Wichita State. Toppert had two 3-pointers, including one from the right corner with 39 seconds to go to extend New Mexico's lead to 68-62.

Kyle Wilson and Sean Ogirri tried to rally the Shockers with 23 and 18 points, respectively, but they were unable to bail their team out.

"It's a huge win," said Smith, who finished with 13 points and five assists. "All five guys stayed together and played their hearts out. To come back home and get a win like this against a top-10 team is very special for me."