Wichita State Shockers

Shocker report (Jan. 31)

Wichita State's Ron Baker (31) drives the ball around Evansville's Blake Simmons (50) as Adam Wing (12) and Shaquille Morris (24) watch in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, in Evansville, Ind. Wichita State won, 78-65.
Wichita State's Ron Baker (31) drives the ball around Evansville's Blake Simmons (50) as Adam Wing (12) and Shaquille Morris (24) watch in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, in Evansville, Ind. Wichita State won, 78-65. AP

No. 22 WICHITA ST. 78, EVANSVILLE 65

WICHITA ST.

Min

FG-A

FT-A

OR-TR

A

PF

PT

Brown

14

0-1

0-0

0-2

1

4

0

Wessel

24

2-7

2-2

1-2

1

3

8

VanVleet

38

8-18

15-15

1-4

3

2

32

Morris

13

1-4

0-0

1-3

0

5

2

Baker

21

4-5

0-0

0-5

1

4

9

Kelly

17

2-4

1-2

2-5

1

4

5

Simon

0

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

Grady

21

2-6

1-2

2-8

0

4

5

Nurger

5

1-1

0-0

0-2

0

1

2

Wamukota

2

0-0

0-0

0-1

0

1

0

McDuffie

22

2-6

1-2

3-7

1

3

5

Frankamp

23

2-10

4-4

0-1

1

1

10

Totals

200

24-62

24-27

11-43

9

32

78

Percentages: FG .387, FT .889. 3-Point Goals: 6-21, .286 (Wessel 2-6, Frankamp 2-6, Baker 1-2, VanVleet 1-4, McDuffie 0-3). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 9 (Grady 4, Brown 3, Baker, Wessel). Turnovers: 15 (Nurger 3, Brown 3, Kelly 2, Grady 2, McDuffie, VanVleet, Baker, Wessel, Morris). Steals: 5 (VanVleet 2, Kelly, Wessel, Baker). Technical Fouls: None.

EVANSVILLE

Min

FG-A

FT-A

OR-TR

A

PF

PT

J Brown

28

2-5

2-2

0-3

2

5

7

Wing

35

1-2

2-2

0-5

1

5

4

Balentine

39

5-19

6-10

1-3

2

1

18

Simmons

27

1-3

2-2

0-1

0

1

5

Mockevicius

31

2-6

12-14

1-12

1

4

16

Benzon

6

2-2

0-1

0-1

0

2

4

Brzoja

23

3-7

5-7

2-6

2

3

11

H Brown

1

0-1

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

Wiley

9

0-1

0-0

0-1

0

4

0

Totals

199

16-46

29-38

6-35

8

25

65

Percentages: FG .348, FT .763. 3-Point Goals: 4-12, .333 (Balentine 2-5, J. Brown 1-2, Simmons 1-2, H. Brown 0-1, Brzoja 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 5 (Simmons 2, Wiley, Brzoja, Mockevicius). Turnovers: 18 (J. Brown 5, Brzoja 3, Wing 2, Balentine 2, Wiley 2, Simmons 2, Mockevicius). Steals: 5 (Wing, Balentine, Simmons, J. Brown, Brzoja). Technical Fouls: None.

Wichita St.

32

46

78

Evansville

21

44

65

A—10,034. Officials—Mark Whitehead, Don Daily, Bo Boroski.

 

Record day for VanVleet

Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet doesn’t admit to hunting shots very often.

Apparently, his teammates pushed him into it.

VanVleet scored a career-high 32 points by making 8 of 18 shots and all 15 of his free throws. He scored 29 against Indiana State on Jan. 17. He made his last basket with 6:41 to play and missed his next shot before coming out with 4:33 to play.

“I caught so much (teasing) for not getting 30 the last time,” he said. “I was going to get it today, one way or another.”

The Shockers bench celebrated wildly when he hit 30 with a layup with 52 seconds to play. Their description of VanVleet’s game, which also included three assists and two steals, was much more matter of fact.

“Consistency,” forward Zach Brown said. “Today was just a day he got 32. And if he didn’t get 32, he still would have been excellent.”

VanVleet will take a streak of 17 straight made foul shots into Wednesday’s game. He is 30 of 31 in his past five games, raising his season accuracy to 83.6 percent.

His 32 points pushed him to 1,287 for his career, No. 22 at WSU, after passing Gus Santos (1987-91), who has 1,278.

VanVleet’s two steals gave him 201 for his career, No. 17 on the MVC’s list. He is second at WSU, 20 behind Jason Perez (1996-2000).

He also passed P.J. Couisnard, who was at the game, with his 127th game played. He ranks ninth on WSU’s career list, one behind No. 8 David Kyles (2008-12). Tekele Cotton (2011-15) is first with 141.

His 15-for-15 performance at the line matched former Shockers All-American Dave Stallworth, who made all 15 in a 1963 game against Texas-El Paso, for the most free throws without a miss.

In five other games, a Shocker made more than 15 foul shots, led by Cleo Littleton’s 22-of-25 performance against Houston in 1955.

Worth noting

The Shockers defeated Evansville for the seventh straight time and leads the series 29-16, 11-10 in Evansville and 4-1 at Ford Center. WSU owns a 15.3-margin of victory in those seven victories.… Ford Center crowd of 10,034 surpassed a crowd of 9,640 for Evansville’s game against Indiana in 2011.… WSU scored 20 points off 18 Aces turnovers. Evansville committed more turnovers once this season, 19 at Missouri State.… The Aces went 29 of 38 from the foul line. Only Charleston Southern (31 of 41) made more free throws against WSU. Charleston Southern and Missouri State both attempted 41.

Paul Suellentrop

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 7:43 AM with the headline "Shocker report (Jan. 31)."

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