Wichita State puts away Northern Iowa 74-55 with late burst (+video)

During a miserable start to the second half, Wichita State’s coach Gregg Marshall used colorful language to ask Ron Baker what was going on. Baker responded with a calming hand motion.

That sequence summed up Wichita State’s 74-55 win over Northern Iowa on Wednesday at McLeod Center. The Shockers never trailed, but the Panthers never rolled over, which made for a colorful, frustrating, tense, foul-ridden evening.

WSU (13-5, 7-0 Missouri Valley Conference) remained in first place and handed the Panthers their worst defeat in the 10-season history of the arena. UNI (10-10, 2-5) lost its third straight game.

The tone shifted quickly and unexpectedly from close to blowout in the final minutes.

“We knew it was going to take a great effort and a concerted team approach from a mental and physical standpoint, being very tough,” Marshall said. “The final score was certainly not indicative of the game.”

WSU led 58-52 when it finally put the Panthers away. Baker made two free throws. Markis McDuffie’s steal and layup made it 62-52. His steal and dunk pushed the lead to 66-55 and took the steam out of the Panthers. Fred VanVleet made two three-pointers in the final minute to push the advantage past WSU’s 73-55 win in 2011 at McLeod Center.

Baker led WSU with 21 points, making 3 of 5 three-pointers. McDuffie added 15 points and VanVleet scored 12 to go with six rebounds and six assists. Shaq Morris played 20 minutes, his most since November, scored 10 points and blocked two shots.

WSU made 26 of 46 shots, its second-best accuracy (56.5 percent) of the season. It made 8 of 15 threes, also a second-best percentage of 53.3. Add in a 14-of-17 performance at the foul line and WSU stitched together one of its best offensive games of the season.

VanVleet took the threat out of Northern Iowa’s double-teams by patiently dribbling away to spread out the defense and wait for teammates to get open. He found big men rolling to the basket and shooters open in the corners. WSU’s offense hit a high gear in the second half when McDuffie and Conner Frankamp played and filled the court with shooters.

That left nothing but bad choices for UNI’s defense and VanVleet’s composure allowed him to beat the traps and head toward the basket with a man advantage.

“They’re smart — they want to try to eliminate his ability to make a play,” Marshall said. “They have to pick their poison. Fred is good enough to let them decide what they want to do and go to the other option.”

Wes Washpun, Matt Bohannon and Bennett Koch scored 14 points for the Panthers, who shot 33 percent from the field and continued a nasty offensive slump. On Saturday, they shot 27.1 percent from the field in a 51-41 loss to Loyola.

“It’s tough,” Bohannon said. “They’re taking away a lot of our passing angles … making it tough to get into our offense. A lot of it comes from defense. We’ve got to take more prides and get some stops.”

WSU took away Washpun’s favored routes to the basket with VanVleet and Baker containing him with help from their big men. Washpun missed 9 of his 13 shots and committed four turnovers to go with seven assists.

“The goal is to keep him, not necessarily to the rim, but from getting to the rim at full speed,” Baker said. “He’s a really, really good athlete off the run.”

Wichita State led 34-22 at halftime, courtesy of Baker’s buzzer-beater from near halfcourt.

WSU made 13 of 23 shots in the first half. VanVleet regularly beat defenders into the lane, scoring four points and handing out four assists. Twice, he found Shaq Morris for dunks as the shot clock ticked down.

WSU’s defense held the Panthers to 6-of-22 shooting, 3 of 12 from behind the arc. Koch carried the offense with nine points and drew fouls to run through WSU’s big-man depth.

McDuffie’s three-pointer started a 7-0 run that gave WSU its first double-digit lead, 22-12. Morris finished off the run with a dunk, from VanVleet, and a layup.

Koch scored UNI’s next seven points, drawing two fouls on Bush Wamukota and two on Morris, to pull the Panthers within 26-19. Bohannan’s three cut WSU’s lead to 27-22.

WSU ended the half on another 7-0 run.

The Shockers committed three turnovers in the first 3:57 of the second half. The Panthers took advantage to cut the lead to 36-32 and force a WSU timeout. VanVleet ended the run with a short jumper.

McDuffie made two threes from the corner to give WSU a 46-34 lead. Bohannon responded with two for the Panthers, cutting the lead in half.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Wichita State puts away Northern Iowa 74-55 with late burst (+video)."