Shocker report (Jan. 6)
Wednesday’s box score
WSU 67, EVANSVILLE 64
EVANS. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | Reb | A | PF | PT |
J Brown | 38 | 7-12 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 18 |
Wing | 32 | 3-6 | 4-4 | 2-4 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
Balentine | 40 | 6-17 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
Simmons | 23 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
Mockevicius | 36 | 2-4 | 5-10 | 2-16 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
Benzon | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Brzoja | 25 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
Howard | 4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 22-46 | 14-21 | 7-31 | 14 | 14 | 64 |
Percentages: FG .478, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Brzoja 2-3, Wing 2-4, Simmons 1-2, J. Brown 1-3, Balentine 0-4). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 4 (Mockevicius 3, Simmons). Turnovers: 13 (Balentine 5, J. Brown 3, Mockevicius 2, Benzon, Wing, Brzoja). Steals: 3 (Brzoja 2, Mockevicius). Technical Fouls: None.
WSU | Min | FG-A | FT-A | Reb | A | PF | PT |
Brown | 27 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Wessel | 26 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
VanVleet | 34 | 6-15 | 2-2 | 0-5 | 9 | 0 | 16 |
Morris | 12 | 3-4 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
Baker | 33 | 3-10 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
Kelly | 14 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Grady | 27 | 8-13 | 1-2 | 2-7 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
Wamukota | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
McDuffie | 13 | 2-6 | 1-1 | 3-4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Frankamp | 13 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Totals | 200 | 26-59 | 8-10 | 11-31 | 18 | 16 | 67 |
Percentages: FG .441, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (VanVleet 2-5, Frankamp 1-1, Brown 1-1, Kelly 1-2, Wessel 1-4, Baker 1-4, McDuffie 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 3 (Grady, McDuffie, Baker). Turnovers: 9 (VanVleet 3, McDuffie 2, Baker, Morris, Grady). Steals: 6 (VanVleet 3, McDuffie, Wessel, Grady). Technical Fouls: None.
Evansville | 27 | 37 | — | 64 |
Wichita St. | 32 | 35 | — | 67 |
A—10,506. Officials—John Higgins, Bert Smith, Randy Heimerman.
Team effort on Balentine
Wichita State used a trio of long, athletic and determined defenders to harass Aces guard D.J. Balentine.
He finished with 14 points, shooting 6 of 17 from the field, and committed five turnovers. It was a season-low in points for Balentine, who averages 21.5 points and entered the game shooting 49.1 percent.
WSU started both halves with Zach Brown guarding him. Freshman Markis McDuffie took a turn and senior Ron Baker completed the effort.
“Baker’s probably the best on him, because he knows him the most,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “But you also need Ron’s offense. You don’t want to wear him down with all of the running off those screens.”
The Shockers blunted one of Balentine’s best weapons by not fouling him. They used their length to alter and deflect shots without fouling and avoided falling for his pump fakes in most cases.
“One of the main things we had to make sure of was that he wasn’t getting to the line,” Brown said. “An amazing scout by Coach (Isaac) Brown. Trying to pay attention to him, study him, see what he likes to do — coming off the left, he likes to curl, coming off the right, he likes to fade.”
Starting your voting
WSU coach Gregg Marshall is back in ESPN’s Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge after finishing in the top four the past two years.
Marshall and voters earned $30,000 for the Wichita Children’s Home the past two years.
Voting for the first round continues until Jan. 24. Each coach wins at least 1,000 and the winning coach gets $100,000. The contest starts with 48 coaches and runs until March 13.
Kansas State’s Bruce Weber, Bill Self of Kansas and Mark Turgeon of Maryland are also participating.
Purdue’s Matt Painter won last year’s voting.
People can vote at www.espn.com/infiniti.
Worth noting
Shockers freshman Landry Shamet posted X-rays of his left foot on Twitter with the message he expects to start jogging in two weeks. Shamet played three games before a stress fracture sidelined him. He had surgery in late November and could return to action by mid-to-late February.… Referee John Higgins continued a busy week with his work at Koch Arena. He worked Kansas State at Texas on Tuesday and Oklahoma at Kansas on Monday, preceded by games at Arizona State, Minnesota and Stanford on consecutive days.… WSU won its 20th straight MVC home game. Evansville, in 2013, is the last team to win at Koch Arena. WSU’s streak of 39 home wins (three at Instrust Bank Arena, is fourth-longest in MVC history, seven behind third-place Oklahoma State’s 46 from 1936-40. Cincinnati’s streak of 86 from 1957-64 ranks first.… Aces center Egidijus Mockevicius had nine points and 16 rebounds, breaking a streak of 10 double-doubles.
Paul Suellentrop
This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 11:18 PM with the headline "Shocker report (Jan. 6)."