Shockers fall flat in post against Illinois State

ST. LOUIS – Illinois State center Reggie Lynch thought about the losses he’d experienced at the hands of Wichita State before Saturday’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal.

He thought about his failures, about the things he’d done wrong when the Redbirds and Shockers had met in the past — four straight defeats over the last two seasons for the 6-foot-10 sophomore from Edina, Minn.

He fouled too much. He missed too many easy shots. He got outmuscled.

Then something else occurred to him. He started to look at WSU in a different light.

“(WSU) was just the team in the way of the championship,” Lynch said. “They were the team that, if we lost the game, would be the reason that we might not be able to get to play another game with this great group of seniors.”

Turns out that was the right motivation. Lynch almost single-handedly handled the Shockers’ post players with 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in the Redbirds’ 65-62 upset of No. 8 WSU.

Lynch’s big night was the flip side to WSU’s struggles. The Shockers’ top post player, 6-7 senior forward Darius Carter, played five minutes in the first half and went scoreless after getting in early foul trouble.

Carter finished with nine points in 14 minutes, but foul trouble dogged him the entire game, with coach Gregg Marshall forced to subsitute for Carter on defense.

“It was really tough not being in there for long stretches because of foul trouble,” Carter said. “It makes it tough to get in a rhythm, tough to get a really good feel for the game.”

Lynch, a second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference pick, was at his best in the second half, scoring nine of his 11 points and blocking four shots, anchoring the back of the Redbirds’ zone.

Shocker backup posts Shaq Morris, Bush Wamukota and Rashard Kelly could do little to stop him.

“Second half, we already knew they would try to beat the ball into the post to Lynch,” Morris said. “(Lynch) did pretty well ... their whole front line did pretty well. They wanted it more than us.”

“Give them credit, they’re a good team, an athletic team,” Wamukota said. “They really brought it in the second half and we were not able to execute against their zone.”

Outside of Carter, WSU post players accounted for four points and five rebounds.

And Lynch, true to form, fouled out for the third straight game against WSU. Only this time, when he left the game after trying to block a shot by Fred VanVleet with 21 seconds left, it was to Illinois State fans chanting his name.

“I missed a couple of shots I should’ve made in the first half, but I didn’t get down I myself because I knew I was going to make them in the second half,” Lynch said. “I just had to be physical, and I ended up getting my buckets back.

“Me getting a couple of scores in the second half opened up the floor for us, which ended up being good.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Shockers fall flat in post against Illinois State."