National Basketball Association
Wichita St. 84, Evansville 68
When: 5:00 PM ET, Sunday, February 16, 2014
Where: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
Officials:
# Don Daily, # David Hall, # John Higgings
Attendance:
8802
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 2 Wichita State 84, Evansville 68: Ron Baker scored a career-high 26 points as the visiting Shockers staved off another upset bid to remain undefeated.
Fred VanVleet collected 18 points, eight assists and a career-high five steals for Wichita State (27-0, 14-0 Missouri Valley Conference), which continued the NCAA's best start since Illinois began the 2004-05 season with 29 straight victories. Cleanthony Early had 13 points and seven rebounds while Tekele Cotton chipped in 12 points as the Shockers improved to 10-0 on the road.
MVC leading scorer D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius scored 19 points apiece for the Aces (11-16, 4-10). Blake Simmons added 12 points for Evansville, which lost for the fifth time in six games despite shooting 51.1 percent.
The Aces trimmed a 14-point second-half deficit down to 65-60 when Balentine was good from long range and Mockevicius buried a jumper with just over six minutes remaining. Cotton scored to stem the tide and Baker later had nine straight Wichita State points - the last two on a breakaway dunk - to push the margin to 14 with 1:31 left to end the threat.
The Shockers led by as many as nine points in the first half before settling for a 38-32 lead at intermission, getting 15 points from Baker. Cotton hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half and Baker scored moments later to ignite a burst that left Wichita State with a 55-41 advantage with 14 minutes to go.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Evansville had a 28-26 advantage on the boards to become just the third team to win the rebounding battle against Wichita State. ... The Aces had 18 turnovers, compared to just eight for the Shockers. ... Wichita State continues its pursuit of perfection Wednesday at Loyola (Illinois).
Top Game Performances
| Wichita St. |
|
Evansville |
|
Ron Baker 26 |
Scoring |
D.J. Balentine 19 |
|
Fred VanVleet 8 |
Assists |
Duane Gibson 7 |
|
Cleanthony Early 7 |
Rebounds |
Egidijus Mockevicius 10 |
|
Fred VanVleet 6 |
Free Throws Made |
D.J. Balentine 6 |
|
Ron Baker 5 |
Steals |
D.J. Balentine 1 |
|
Kadeem Coleby 2 |
Blocks |
Jaylon Moore 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Wichita St.
|
84 |
49.1 |
8-19 |
20-21 |
13 |
25 |
4 |
14 |
8 |
| Evansville
|
68 |
51.1 |
5-11 |
15-16 |
20 |
25 |
2 |
3 |
18 |
For more information, contact us