Wichita State Shockers

Shocker report Wichita St. 81, Saint Louis 52


Wichita State’s Rauno Nurger takes a shot against Saint Louis’ Brett Jolly during the first half on Saturday at Intrust Bank Arena. (Dec. 6, 2014)
Wichita State’s Rauno Nurger takes a shot against Saint Louis’ Brett Jolly during the first half on Saturday at Intrust Bank Arena. (Dec. 6, 2014) The Wichita Eagle

Saturday’s box score

No. 8 Wichita St. 81, Saint Louis 52

SAINT LOUIS

Min

FG-A

FT-A

OR-TR

A

PF

PT

McBroom

14

0-4

3-4

1-1

0

0

3

Yacoubou

16

1-3

0-0

0-1

0

1

2

Roby

23

1-3

0-0

0-2

4

1

2

Agbeko

8

1-2

0-0

0-0

0

4

2

Manning

24

1-4

0-0

0-2

0

3

2

Bartley

23

5-7

2-3

0-3

2

2

13

Yarbrough

24

1-3

1-3

1-3

2

1

4

Reynolds

22

0-4

6-8

0-0

1

2

6

Jolly

15

1-4

4-4

0-1

0

4

7

Lancona

4

0-1

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

Gillmann

18

3-5

1-3

0-4

0

0

9

Crawford

8

1-2

0-0

1-1

0

0

2

Totals

199

15-42

17-25

4-20

9

18

52

Percentages: FG .357, FT .680. 3-Point Goals: 5-14, .357 (Gillmann 2-4, Yarbrough 1-1, Bartley 1-2, Jolly 1-3, McBroom 0-1, Manning 0-1, Reynolds 0-1, Lancona 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 5 (Manning 2, Yarbrough 2, Gillmann). Turnovers: 15 (Agbeko 3, Reynolds 2, Yacoubou 2, Yarbrough, Roby, Jolly, Gillmann, Crawford, Lancona, Bartley). Steals: 8 (Bartley 4, Gillmann, Reynolds, Yarbrough, Roby). Technical Fouls: None.

WICHITA ST.

Min

FG-A

FT-A

OR-TR

A

PF

PT

Wessel

18

6-9

0-1

2-3

1

2

15

Carter

16

1-3

2-2

1-6

0

2

4

VanVleet

21

3-3

2-3

0-4

3

1

8

Baker

30

6-7

3-3

1-4

1

2

18

Cotton

25

2-6

3-5

1-3

7

0

7

Kelly

12

1-2

1-2

1-7

1

4

3

Brown

8

1-2

0-0

0-0

1

1

3

Henderson Jr

8

0-1

0-0

1-1

2

1

0

Bush

2

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

Holland

18

2-3

0-0

1-2

1

4

5

Simon

2

0-0

0-0

1-1

0

0

0

Walker

2

0-1

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

Nurger

15

5-9

3-3

0-1

2

1

15

Wamukota

6

0-2

0-0

1-5

0

1

0

Morris

12

1-2

0-0

0-0

1

3

2

Glass

5

0-2

1-2

1-2

0

1

1

Totals

200

28-52

15-21

12-41

20

23

81

Percentages: FG .538, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 10-18, .556 (Baker 3-4, Wessel 3-5, Nurger 2-4, Holland 1-1, Brown 1-2, Cotton 0-2). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 4 (Baker, Nurger, Kelly, Holland). Turnovers: 15 (Carter 3, Brown 3, Baker 3, Kelly 2, Holland, VanVleet, Henderson Jr., Wessel). Steals: 5 (Cotton, Wessel, Nurger, Morris, Holland). Technical Fouls: None.

Saint Louis

25

27

52

Wichita St.

45

36

81

A—15,004. Officials—Hal Lusk, Roland Simmons, Jeff Malham

On their way

Wichita State’s bench contributed 29 points, its most against an NCAA Division I opponent this season. The newcomers aren’t moving at the same pace as the veterans, but some are getting closer.

With players such as Ria’n Holland and Rashard Kelly, there is less thinking and more instinctive movement to the right places. Freshman Rauno Nurger scored 15 points off the bench. Kelly grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Holland scored five points with a steal, a block and an assist. The game didn’t look too fast for those three.

“The bench may have lengthened a little bit,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said.

Learning to play with the speed and confidence of the juniors and seniors is a tough task. The ones who are making the most progress are the ones who make the fewest mistakes.

“I was that age once and it’s not easy to come in a game when you’re sitting there for a whole half and play at that tempo,” junior Ron Baker said. “They’re doing what they can … do the little things. Don’t do things you’re not capable of doing. You can do those in practice and get chewed out and learn from it. You do it in a game, and it’s a turnover, and you get chewed out even more.”

Nurger scored four points in WSU’s opening win over New Mexico State. Then he didn’t make another basket until Saturday. He broke out by making 5 of 9 shots, 2 of 4 from three-point range.

“He’s a guy we know can shoot the basketball,” Marshall said. “He got loose a couple times, so now maybe the confidence will start brimming for him.”

Everybody get back

Saint Louis coach Jim Crews played prevent defense when his team went to the foul line.

Four Billikens went to half court and left their teammate alone. Crews saw no point to placing his players in the open slots on the lane for a rare chance at a rebound.

“We’re not a good offensive rebounding team and we’re a pretty good free-throw shooting team,” he said. “It gets us set defensively, because (WSU) runs different things. It saves you trips up and down the floor. Their used to be six reasons, but I can only remember four or five now.”

Worth noting

WSU’s 29-point margin of victory is its largest in five victories at Intrust Bank Arena. The Shockers defeated UAB 68-46 in 2011.… Saint Louis leads the series 41-21, although WSU has won three in a row. WSU’s margin of victory is its largest in the series. The schools extended the contract and will meet again in 2015 and 2016.… Baker made 3 of 4 three-pointers to improve his season percentage to 50 percent (18 of 36). Guard Fred VanVleet totaled three assists and one turnover in 21 minutes, giving him 27 assists and seven turnovers this season.… The Shockers won their 29th straight nonconference home game (counting Koch Arena and Intrust Bank Arena) and their 20th straight at a home court overall.

Paul Suellentrop

This story was originally published December 6, 2014 at 9:25 PM with the headline "Shocker report Wichita St. 81, Saint Louis 52."

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