Wichita State Shockers

Shocker report: WSU 66, Loyola 58

Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet dives for a loose ball against Loyola guard Devon Turk.
Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet dives for a loose ball against Loyola guard Devon Turk. The Wichita Eagle

Friday’s box score

WICHITA ST. 66, LOYOLA 58

LOYOLA

Min

FG-A

FT-A

Reb

A

PF

PT

Ingram

31

2-5

0-0

1-1

1

2

6

James

29

3-8

0-2

1-4

0

5

6

Peterson

26

4-10

1-1

0-5

3

0

10

Turk

31

5-12

3-3

1-5

1

3

16

Doyle

34

4-12

1-2

0-2

5

5

10

Rajala

12

0-0

0-1

2-3

1

1

0

Lisha

0

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

Richardson

32

3-6

0-0

0-6

3

2

8

White

4

0-2

0-0

0-0

0

1

0

Kirby

1

1-1

0-2

0-0

0

2

2

Kennedy

0

0-0

0-0

0-1

0

0

0

Totals

200

22-56

5-11

7-32

14

21

58

Percentages: FG .393, FT .455. 3-Point Goals: 9-21, .429 (Turk 3-5, Richardson 2-3, Ingram 2-5, Peterson 1-3, Doyle 1-4, White 0-1). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 4 (James 2, Peterson, Rajala). Turnovers: 14 (Doyle 4, Ingram 3, Peterson 2, James, Turk, Kirby). Steals: 7 (Turk 2, Doyle 2, Richardson, Peterson, White). Technical Fouls: None.

WSU

Min

FG-A

FT-A

Reb

A

PF

PT

Brown

26

3-7

2-2

0-2

0

1

10

Wessel

13

2-3

0-2

1-3

1

2

5

Morris

16

0-0

2-2

0-4

1

3

2

VanVleet

20

1-6

8-10

1-2

2

3

10

Baker

37

8-16

4-7

1-4

4

2

25

Kelly

27

1-2

0-0

0-3

0

1

2

Simon

0

0-0

0-0

0-1

0

0

0

Grady

18

2-2

2-4

1-6

0

2

6

Nurger

5

0-2

0-0

2-2

1

0

0

McDuffie

19

2-3

0-0

0-4

0

0

4

Frankamp

19

1-4

0-0

0-1

1

0

2

Totals

200

20-45

18-27

7-37

10

14

66

Percentages: FG .444, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 8-18, .444 (Baker 5-8, Brown 2-5, Wessel 1-1, Nurger 0-1, McDuffie 0-1, VanVleet 0-1, Frankamp 0-1). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 10 (Morris 6, Baker 2, Frankamp, Grady). Turnovers: 17 (Grady 6, VanVleet 3, Morris 2, Kelly 2, Brown 2, Nurger, Baker). Steals: 1 (Brown). Technical Fouls: None.

Loyola

21

37

58

Wichita St.

30

36

66

A—NA. Officials—Tom Eades, Paul Janssen, Randy Heimerman.

Change in pressure system

Loyola led 52-45 and looked like the more confident team. That soon changed.

Ron Baker’s three-pointer played a role. So did Wichita State’s defensive pressure.

“They really denied and extended the defense to about 28, 29 feet and we’re really having trouble getting catches,” Loyola coach Porter Moser said. “We drove to the basket a couple times and that’s when you’ve got to draw a crowd and kick it. They just hammered it on the glass, blocking the shots.”

That seven-point lead was the largest second-half deficit overcome for a victory this season for the Shockers. Loyola did not lead in either of the regular-season meetings, 80-54 and 76-54 decisions.

“We just got a tough game out of the way that we pulled out down the stretch,” WSU center Anton Grady said. “I think we’ll be all right.”

Turnovers keep Loyola close

Wichita State normally handles the ball with more care than most teams.

Not on Friday.

In the first half, turnovers kept the Shockers from pulling away. In the second half, they threatened to produce one of the MVC Tournament’s biggest upsets. The Shockers finished with 17 turnovers, shocking for a team that committed more than 15 once previously this season, 21 at Seton Hall Loyola committed 14 , for the fifth time this season WSU lost the turnover stat.

Grady committed six turnovers.

“I have to take care of the ball,” he said. “As a team we have to take care of the ball better, get better flow on offense.”

WSU ended the first half with nine turnovers; in 13 previous games, they committed nine or fewer turnovers.

Worth noting

Wichita State defeated Loyola for the ninth straight time, seven of which are since the Ramblers joined the MVC in 2013-14. The schools met in the MVC Tournament for the first time. WSU leads the series 25-9.… Morris’ six blocks exceeded his previous high by three and ties Kadeem Coleby’s WSU tournament record, set in 2014 against Evansville. Creighton’s Benoit Benjamin holds the tournament record with 10 in 1984 vs. Illinois State. Six ties Morris and Coleby for third with Creighton’s Gregory Echenique, who did it twice.… The Shockers improve to 9-4 as the No. 1 seed, 32-33 in all tournament games.

Paul Suellentrop

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Shocker report: WSU 66, Loyola 58."

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