Shocker report: Illinois State 65, No. 8 Wichita State 62
Saturday’s box score
Illinois St. 65, No. 8 WSU 62
ILLINOIS ST. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | PF | PT |
Hawkins | 18 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Lynch | 25 | 4-9 | 3-6 | 2-7 | 1 | 5 | 11 |
Lee | 36 | 2-7 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
Knight | 33 | 10-15 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 1 | 1 | 25 |
Akoon-Purcell | 34 | 2-6 | 6-6 | 2-5 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
Jones | 15 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
McIntosh | 29 | 0-3 | 4-4 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Wills | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
McCloud | 8 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Totals | 200 | 21-47 | 17-20 | 10-30 | 9 | 15 | 65 |
Percentages: FG .447, FT .850. 3-Point Goals: 6-14, .429 (Knight 3-4, McCloud 1-1, Hawkins 1-2, Lee 1-4, McIntosh 0-1, Akoon-Purcell 0-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 6 (Lynch 5, McIntosh). Turnovers: 12 (Knight 4, Lee 3, McIntosh 2, Lynch, Hawkins, Akoon-Purcell). Steals: 4 (Jones, Lynch, Knight, Lee). Technical Fouls: None.
WICHITA ST. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | PF | PT |
Carter | 14 | 4-7 | 1-3 | 2-3 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
Wessel | 32 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
VanVleet | 38 | 8-16 | 2-3 | 3-7 | 5 | 2 | 19 |
Baker | 38 | 6-15 | 0-0 | 2-6 | 7 | 4 | 13 |
Cotton | 36 | 5-12 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
Kelly | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Brown | 7 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Wamukota | 7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Morris | 23 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Totals | 200 | 27-60 | 4-8 | 15-34 | 14 | 19 | 62 |
Percentages: FG .450, FT .500. 3-Point Goals: 4-18, .222 (Wessel 1-2, Cotton 1-4, VanVleet 1-5, Baker 1-7). Team Rebounds: 6. Blocked Shots: 3 (Cotton, Brown, Morris). Turnovers: 9 (Cotton 3, VanVleet 2, Morris 2, Wessel, Baker). Steals: 7 (Baker 4, Brown, VanVleet, Cotton). Technical Fouls: None.
Illinois St. | 22 | 43 | — | 65 |
Wichita St. | 30 | 32 | — | 62 |
A—NA. Officials—John Higgins, Bert Smith, Gerry Pollard.
Up at halftime
Wichita State made 14 of 29 shots, out-rebounded the Redbirds 20-16 and forced seven turnovers in the first half. Yet, Illinois State trailed 30-22 despite scoring droughts of nearly five minutes and more than seven.
“We missed a lot of open looks in the first half,” WSU guard Ron Baker said. “We felt like that should have been up maybe 12, 16.”
Even in the first half, WSU struggled to score against Illinois State’s zone defense. It survived with eight fast-break points and four on offensive rebounds.
Baker’s dunk, after a turnover, got the crowd roaring. After Illinois State’s Paris Lee missed a three, he fell down and allowed Fred VanVleet, after contesting the shot, to leak out for a layup and an 18-12 lead. Baker stole a pass by Deontae Hawkins near midcourt and drove for another dunk and a 20-12 lead. Daishon Knight ended Illinois State’s drought with a jumper with 10:27 to play. The Redbirds didn’t make another field goal until 3:18 remained.
The Redbirds changed the momentum early in the second half, tying the game at 36-all and taking a 41-36 lead with 12:39 remaining. Center Reggie Lynch scored seven of his 11 points during that span. His dunk off a lob pass from DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell energized the Redbirds fans.
“I can name 10 plays that I thought were so critical,” Redbirds coach Dan Muller said. “You’ve got to make shots against Wichita State. You’re not going to out-trick them or grind them.”
Better day for Knight
Knight went 0 for 8 from the field and didn’t score in WSU’s 68-62 win at Redbird Arena on Feb. 14.
“I put that game way, way, way back,” he said. “I didn’t even think about that game. I just wanted to go out and compete as hard as I can with my brothers.”
Knight’s short memory paid off. He scored 25 points, making 10 of 15 shots and 3 of 4 three-pointers, on Saturday. That total is one short of his career high. Knight, a second-team All-MVC pick, scored 24 points at Koch Arena in a 70-62 loss in January.
“His line was incredible,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “He makes pull-ups, uses the ball-screen well, he gets to the rim and he can make the three.”
Worth noting
The Redbirds snapped WSU’s seven-game win streak in the series and gave Muller his first win in eight games against WSU. The Shockers lead the series 40-38, but trail 6-4 in the MVC Tournament.… Illinois State advances to the tournament title game for the 11th time and the fourth since 2008. It is 4-6 in title games, winning most recently in 1998. … The No. 4 seed advanced to the title game for the seventh time and improved to 7-18 in the semifinals. This is the 11th time in tournament history for a semifinal loss for the No. 1 seed. … WSU’s Tekele Cotton played in his 138th game, tying him with former Shocker Garrett Stutz for third on the career list. Cotton’s 12 points give him 1,013 for his career, 35th on WSU’s list. … Baker’s four steals give him 101 for his career, 14th on WSU’s list.
Paul Suellentrop
This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Shocker report: Illinois State 65, No. 8 Wichita State 62."