LOS ANGELES — When you look at their body of work the last two years — particularly this season — there should no longer be anything shocking about the Shockers.
Wichita State, a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region, Thursday night won its 57th game in the last two seasons and it was the most significant — a 72-58 victory over La Salle at Staples Center to advance to the Elite Eight.
The win sends the Shockers into tomorrow night’s West Region final against No. 2 seeded Ohio State, which defeated Arizona in the early game at Staples Center. This is Wichita State’s first regional final appearance since 1981.
Considering one of the Shockers’ NCAA wins on this magical postseason season run came against Gonzaga, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, don’t expect them to be intimidated by the Buckeyes and their 11-game winning streak.
Wichita State (28-6) looked like it was going to blow La Salle (24-10) out early in the game, opening up huge leads of 14-2 and 17-3 before the Explorers could catch their breath.
“They’re a high — very high — level team,’’ La Salle coach John Gianinni said. “Wichita State won the game in the first half. They really overwhelmed us. It took us a half to adjust to the level they were playing at, but they just had too big a lead. We were just in too deep a hole.’’
La Salle, which uses a tough four-guard lineup to rattle many of its opponents, was not able to shake up Wichita State thanks to 8-of-30 shooting in the first 20 minutes. La Salle ended up shooting just 35.7 percent for the game.
La Salle’s Tyrone Garland was 2-of-10 from the field, Ramon Galloway was 2-of-9 and D.J. Peterson played 13 minutes and didn’t take a single shot. Garland finished with 16 points but it came on 5-of-15 shooting. Galloway had 11 on 4-of-15 shooting.
“They were all over the place,’’ Galloway said. “They came to play and were by far one of the most physical teams we’ve played.’’
La Salle could not handle Wichita State’s 6-foot-8 forward Carl Hall, who had 14 points and six rebounds in the first half and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Malcolm Armstead led Wichita State with 18 points and Ron Baker added 13.
La Salle, which trailed 38-22 at the half, was crushed on the boards by Wichita State, 26-12, in the opening 20 minutes and 47-29 for the game.
Now, Wichita State is one more win from the unthinkable — a Final Four berth.
“We need one more win to seal this deal and go back home and get ready for the Final Four,’’ Baker said.
“We’re 40 minutes away,’’ Armstead said. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a dream come true.’’
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com