Cold-shooting Wichita State loses at Illinois State 58-53 (+video)

No. 21 Wichita State’s cruise through the Missouri Valley Conference ended against Illinois State’s zone defense.

The Redbirds ended WSU’s 12-game win streak with a 58-53 win at Redbird Arena on Saturday.

The Shockers (18-6, 11-1 Missouri Valley Conference) missed 13 of 14 three-pointers in the second half and by the end took long, desperate shots against the zone defense. The clock ticked away, headed toward a wave of students rushing the court to celebrate, and the Shockers couldn’t make a shot.

“We knew they were going to play zone in the second half,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “It wasn’t a surprise. We shoot 1 for 14. That’s not going to get it done.”

WSU maintains a three-game lead in the MVC over Evansville and Illinois State, tied in second. Winning the MVC title isn’t the issue. Getting over Saturday’s problems is. The Shockers were outrebounded for a second straight game and failed to stop Illinois State’s dribble drives, leading to fouls and a 13-point edge at the line for the Redbirds.

“If you go out losing and you play well, it’s easier to take,” WSU guard Fred VanVleet said. “We didn’t play well at all.”

VanVleet’s three bounced off the rim with 16 seconds to play and the Shockers down three. When Illinois State’s Paris Lee rebounded, the celebration started. Lee made two free throws with eight seconds to play to seal the victory. Ilinois State defeated the Shockers for a second straight time, adding a regular-season win to last season’s victory in the MVC Tournament.

Illinois State (14-11, 8-4) outrebounded WSU 46-35 and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds. The Redbirds made 15 of 18 foul shots in the second half and went 22 for 26 for the game.

Shaq Morris and Ron Baker both scored 10 points for WSU, which shot 35.2 percent for the game. Lee led the Redbirds with 19 points, 13 in the second half. His penetration broke down WSU’s defense on numerous occassions and helped the offensive rebounding effort by scrambling the Shocker big men.

“They really couldn’t stop him in the second half,” Redbirds coach Dan Muller said. “Paris was outstanding.”

WSU scored the first four points in the second half to take a 37-21 lead. The Redbirds. on the verge of falling apart, rallied quickly by forcing turnovers and making threes. They closed the gap to 38-35 with a run started by Deontae Hawkins’ three. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell added a three-point play and Lee and Nick Banyard swished threes to cut WSU’s lead to three points and force a Shockers timeout.

The Redbirds tied it 41-all on a dunk by Banyard and took a lead on Hawkins’ three from the wing. The season-high crowd of 8,284 stood and roared. WSU looked at a second-half deficit for the first time since losing to Seton Hall on Dec. 19.

“Once we caught up, our confidence continued to grow,” Muller said.

Grady’s follow shot stopped Illinois State’s run. Baker sliced through the Redbirds zone for a layup to regain the lead 45-44. WSU led 47-46 on Zach Brown’s layup, its last edge of the game.

“We’ve just got to make shots and we didn’t do that,” VanVleet said. “We had chances to make plays and we didn’t.”

The Redbirds went up 48-47 on a basket by Paris Lee an 51-48 on two free throws by Hawkins. A three-point play by Hawkins made it 54-50 and WSU missed its next four three-pointers and the front end of a one-and-one by Evan Wessel.

Wichita State led 33-21 at halftime, a lead that felt inadequate considering Illinois State’s miserable shooting.

The Redbirds missed dunks, layups and all manner of shots in the lane. The Shockers obstructed some. Several, however, the Redbirds simply whiffed on. They missed 11 of their first 13 shots, 17 of 19 and finished 6 of 30. MiKyle McIntosh missed all six of his shots and Akoon-Purcell went 2 for 7. Seven offensive rebounds helped keep it close.

Morris scored nine points, two on lob dunks from VanVleet, who scored seven points. The Shockers made 12 of 28 shots, 5 of 13 three-pointers.

Baker’s three gave WSU a 19-11 lead. Evan Wessel’s follow shot made it 22-12 and Anton Grady’s hook gave WSU a 24-12 lead. That capped a 10-3 run, although the Shockers missed seven shots in that span.

After Lee scored five points, WSU’s Rashard Kelly responded with a three. Wessel’s steal led to a basket by Morris and a 31-17 lead.

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 11:23 PM with the headline "Cold-shooting Wichita State loses at Illinois State 58-53 (+video) ."