No. 13 Wichita State cruises past SIU 84-62

Wichita State center Shaq Morris made a turnaround bank shot from near the foul line, barely beating the shot clock. On the way downcourt, teammate Fred VanVleet gave him a hard time about the shot.

Laughter. Smiles. Teasing. When things are going right, everything goes right and it was that kind of night for No. 13 WSU in an 84-62 win over Southern Illinois on Tuesday at SIU Arena.

“I’m just glad it went down,” VanVleet said with a smile. I’ll take it any day when it’s going through the net.”

The Shockers (24-3, 14-1 MVC) won for the third straight time at SIU Arena, matching their longest streak in the 90-game rivalry, and the fifth in the past six trips. WSU rarely laughed, rarely scored, rarely advanced the ball past halfcourt without a brawl not too long ago, as 11 straight losses piled up in SIU Arena. The Shockers ended that streak in 2010 and now it’s just another place to roll up road wins.

WSU led 41-28 at halftime and buried SIU with a 12-2 run early in the second half. The Salukis (10-18, 3-12) lost their third straight game and seventh in the past eight.

“We had to play, literally, a perfect game,” SIU coach Barry Hinson said. “We don’t have one player on our team that could start for Wichita State.”

Morris, it should be mentioned then, is a reserve. He led WSU with a career-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds to tie his career-high. He dunked, scored on an inbound play, on a hook shot, made 3 of 4 fouls shots and, yes, an unlikely bank shot.

“I was just trying to find a way to put the ball in the hole,” Morris said. “We were smiling. We were having fun on the court.”

Morris made 7 of 8 shots and stacked his points in impressive bursts, one in each half. In the first half, he scored six straight WSU points to counter an SIU run and build a 25-17 lead. The Shockers led 43-32 when Morris took over in the second half. His three-point play started a 12-2 run of which he scored seven points. Two free throws by VanVleet gave WSU a 55-34 lead with 16:28 to play.

“My motor is coming on,” Morris said. “I tried to run the floor real hard tonight.”

The Shockers had their fun in a number of ways. They made 28 of 48 shots, their best shooting night of the season at 58.8 percent. They made 10 of 19 three-pointers. They scored 21 points off 10 SIU turnovers.

“Every time we turned it over was at a crucial moment, a momentum-changer,” SIU guard Deion Lavender said.

Ron Baker scored 13 points, all in the first half. VanVleet also scored 13 points and with four assists moved within four of WSU’s career record, held by Toure Murry with 430.

After giving up eight offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points to SIU in the first half, WSU held the Salukis to four offensive rebounds and five second-chance points in the second half.

Lavender led SIU with 15 points. Anthony Beane added 14 on 4-of-12 shooting.

The Shockers played sloppy in bursts, allowing SIU to hang close for much of the first half. Then the Shockers sharpened up, usually when Baker had the ball.

Darius Carter used his size advantage to get WSU rolling early. He scored four points and passed to VanVleet for a jumper to help the Shockers build an 11-2 lead. Baker’s three-point play and a three-pointer by Tekele Cotton extended it to 17-4.

SIU went to a bigger lineup and started grabbing offensive rebounds to rally. Jalen Pendleton scored, after two offensive rebounds by teammates, to cut WSU’s lead to 19-13.

Morris went on a tear for WSU, scoring on an inbound play, a dunk and a hook, for a 25-17 lead. When SIU went to a zone, Cotton’s three gave WSU a 31-21 lead.

SIU cut it to 34-26, on another follow shot, before the Shockers finished the half on a 7-2 run. Baker took part in all seven. He made two free throws and a three. Then he read a soft pass to SIU’s Sean O’Brien and came off his man to steal the ball. He passed to Cotton for a layup and a 41-26 lead.

This story was originally published February 17, 2015 at 9:06 PM with the headline "No. 13 Wichita State cruises past SIU 84-62."