Shocker report: Illinois State 76, Wichita State 62
Saturday’s box score
ILLINOIS ST. 76, WICHITA ST. 62
Wichita St. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Brown | 15 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
McDuffie | 23 | 4-12 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
Willis | 32 | 6-13 | 2-3 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
Shamet | 33 | 3-9 | 6-7 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 14 |
Smith | 14 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Frankamp | 25 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
Morris | 20 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Nurger | 14 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Reaves | 14 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Kelly | 7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Keyser | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Hamilton | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Simon | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 22-63 | 11-15 | 32 | 13 | 21 | 62 |
Percentages: FG .349, FT .733. 3-Point Goals: 7-21, .333 (Frankamp 2-5, Shamet 2-5, McDuffie 2-6, Brown 1-3, Smith 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: 13 (0 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Nurger 2, McDuffie, Morris, Willis). Turnovers: 13 (Brown 3, McDuffie 2, Morris 2, Frankamp, Kelly, Reaves, Shamet, Smith, Willis). Steals: 3 (Morris 2, Reaves). Technical Fouls: None.
Illinois St. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Fayne | 28 | 2-7 | 0-1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Hawkins | 33 | 5-9 | 1-2 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
McIntosh | 27 | 7-9 | 5-5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 20 |
Lee | 30 | 3-10 | 2-3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 10 |
Wills | 30 | 2-4 | 1-4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Clayton | 28 | 5-5 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
Evans | 18 | 2-4 | 4-4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
Ndiaye | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 26-48 | 14-21 | 31 | 16 | 19 | 76 |
Percentages: FG .542, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 10-22, .455 (Hawkins 3-7, Evans 2-4, Wills 2-4, Lee 2-5, McIntosh 1-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 12 (0 PTS). Blocked Shots: 8 (Fayne 3, Hawkins 3, Ndiaye, Wills). Turnovers: 12 (McIntosh 6, Lee 3, Clayton 2, Evans). Steals: 9 (Hawkins 3, Fayne 2, Lee 2, Clayton, Wills). Technical Fouls: None.
Wichita St. | 27 | 35 | — | 62 |
Illinois St. | 36 | 40 | — | 76 |
A—9,078 (10,200).
Big lineup zones out
Some of Wichita State’s best offensive moments came early in the game when Darral Willis and Shaq Morris played together. One place Illinois State doesn’t match up is against Morris, who is powerful enough to get position and shoot over shot-blockers.
Wichita State trailed 11-5 when its big lineup battered the Redbirds. Morris scored twice and Willis twice to help it take a 17-16 lead. A Conner Frankamp three, his second of the half, gave WSU a 20-18 lead. After Rauno Nurger scored on a hook for a 24-22 lead, the Redbirds switched to zone.
Willis finished with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Morris scored six points and grabbed five rebounds.
“(Willis) goes for 14 and nine (rebounds),” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “His problems were on the defensive end. Shaq was pretty good early, especially. We thought we could flash in there to the middle, set some ball screens up top and we were able to do it. But we’ve got to be able to finish.”
The Redbirds zone defense helped take Morris out of the game. He scored two second-half points, although he made an impression in other ways.
“I think on one, Shaq did a spin move and hit me in the my stomach and I was about to puke,” Illinois State’s Deontae Hawkins said. “He’s real physical and their bigs are good and strong.”
Simple, yet no so simple
Wichita State ran through a full list of ways to beat a zone defense.
It screened for the dribbler at the top of the key. Putting a guard at the free-throw line manufactured a few points. Markis McDuffie found room driving the baseline.
“We got some good looks when we got it to the Valley (logo in the lane),” WSU guard Landry Shamet said. “We just didn’t have enough.”
The best way to beat a zone is to make shots.
Illinois State’s aggressive defenders make that difficult and that’s not a new thing. The Shockers are 33 of 124 (26.6 percent) in its past six games against Illinois State. Saturday’s 33.3 percent shooting is an improvement over last season’s 22.2 percent effort in both games.
“You’ve got to make shots,” Marshall said. “When you’re open, you’ve got to make shots. They made them.”
More time away
The Shockers will bus around 230 miles to Evansville on Monday for Tuesday’s game, extending their stay on the road.
WSU planned to fly to Wichita after Saturday’s game. The threat of icy weather changed those plans and the team will stay in Normal, Ill., for the night.
Worth noting
WSU freshman C.J. Keyser, who sat out Wednesday’s game due to illness, returned to the active roster. … The game attracted a season-high crowd of 9,087, a season high.… WSU leads the series 41-40. It has lost two straight at Redbird Arena and three of the past four meetings overall. … Illinois State owns its first seven-game win streak since the 2009-10 season. The Redbirds are 6-0 in the Valley for the first time since 2007-08.
Paul Suellentrop: 316-269-6760, @paulsuellentrop
This story was originally published January 14, 2017 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Shocker report: Illinois State 76, Wichita State 62."