WSU's Toure Murry made 4 of 6 shots and scored nine points Wednesday.
The score: Wichita State 68, Illinois State 55
Key statistics: WSU held Illinois State’s starters to 8 of 35 shooting and 26 points. The Shockers made 10 of 23 three-pointers.
Records: WSU 25-4, 15-2 MVC; ISU 17-12, 8-9
- WSU won its seventh straight game, the past five by double figures. It’s been dominant for long stretches in those five games, all against teams with winning records and three of them on the road. The word that came to mind while watching the second half was comfortable. It was as if it didn’t matter whether or not Illinois State was on the court. The Shockers ran their offense, methodically moving the ball in patterns we’ve all seen a lot. They moved it from side to side, punching it to Garrett Stutz in the lane or running a shooter off a screen, until the defense broke down and surrendered points. To beat the Shockers, a team is going to have to shake them up and throw some stress at them. There are teams that can do that, but the list is small and the Shockers might not meet one again until the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Alabama and Temple matched WSU’s athletic skills and experience and rattled it in Puerto Rico. That was in November. Poor shooting fazed the Shockers in losses to Creighton and Drake. Evansville forced 16 turnovers in a one-point loss to WSU in early January. Coach Gregg Marshall talks a lot about toughness, which can be defined as being solid enough to stick with the plan in tough times. WSU does that, no matter how well the other team is playing. It keeps doing its thing, and most of the time the other team cracks first.
- We’ve seen in recent games that teams with legit big men can make it tough on Stutz. He missed 10 of 15 shots Wednesday against Jackie Carmichael and Jordan Threloff. At Creighton, he made 3 of 6 and scored eight points. Teams are also making him defend away from the basket, as Davidson did with Jake Cohen. Defenses are doubling him ferociously and he has eight turnovers in his past two games. He remains effective, however, even at reduced numbers. Teams still have to double him, which leaves shooters open. “Even nights like tonight when I’m playing terrible, everyone else steps up,” Stutz said.
- WSU never trailed, largely thanks to a 10-2 lead in the opening minutes. The Shockers played well on defense early, especially by taking ISU guards Nic Moore and Tyler Brown out of the game. Neither scored in the first half. Forward Jackie Carmichael played four minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls. “They went out real aggressive,” ISU junior John Wilkins said.
- WSU scored four fast-break points. The lack of run-outs didn’t frustrate the Shockers like it might some teams. They were quite willing to run their offense and win by scoring 68 points instead of 88. We don’t usually describe WSU’s offense as patient, but it fits Wednesday. “They got in their offense and slowed us down,” Redbirds guard Bryant Allen said. “They kind of picked and choosed what they wanted to do. We’ve got to be more patient and take better shots.”
- Allen is an injection of energy off the bench. He scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting Wednesday in 31 minutes. As he admitted, he hurt the Redbirds with a step-back three that missed everything late in the first half. At that point, ISU trailed 26-20. Allen’s bad shot broke the spell, and WSU outscored the Redbirds 8-2 the rest of the half. Losses are built on such small things. “Overall, I wanted to have a slow mind and fast feet on the offensive end,” he said.
- Time for a Toure Murry career records update. He has 134 threes, seventh at WSU and six behind Ryan Herrs. He handed out three assists, giving him 415 for his career, third behind Warren Armstrong (429) and Bob Trogele (420). He added one steal to his total, giving him 170 and ranking second behind Jason Perez with 222. Murry has 1,486 points, No. 11 on WSU’s career chart.
- Drake’s Ben Simons scored 14 points in a win over Southern Illinois on Wednesday. Simons missed five previous games with mono. He scored 29 in Drake’s triple-overtime win over WSU on Jan. 28 in Des Moines.
- WSU has won 25 or more games for three straight seasons, new territory for the program. The previous best was 26-23-25 from 1980-83.
- WSU’s 15 MVC wins ranks second at WSU behind the 17 won by the 1982-83 team.
- Six schools have won 16 or more MVC games – 1979 Indiana State (16-0), 1983 WSU (17-1), 1986 Bradley (16-0), 1998 Illinois State (16-2), 2003 Southern Illinois (16-2), 2004 SIU (17-1).
- WSU is the No. 1 seed in St. Louis. Creighton is No. 2. SIU is No. 9. BU is No. 10. Six schools can finish 9-9 with third through eighth to be decided. The MVC office will hire extra tie-breaker elves to sort things out, should that happen. On Wednesday, Indiana State’s win at Missouri State caused the most chaos. The Bears wrap up third place with a win. Instead, they are still in the mix to play in the tournament’s dreaded Thursday round on March 1.
Up next: vs. Drake, 12:30 p.m., Saturday (FSKC)