National Basketball Association
Wichita St. 67, Missouri St. 42
When: 2:35 PM ET, Saturday, March 8, 2014
Where: Scottrade Center, Saint Louis, Missouri
Officials:
# John Higgins, # Hal Lusk, # Gerry Pollard
Attendance:
10506
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 2 Wichita State 67, Missouri State 42: Cleanthony Early scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half as the unbeaten Shockers advanced to finals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament with a rout of the Bears in St. Louis
Wichita State shot 50 percent and hit nine of its first 12 3-point tries in becoming just the third team in NCAA Division I history to begin a season 33-0, one shy of matching UNLV's record 34-0 mark in 1990-91. Tekele Cotton scored 13 points and Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet added nine apiece for the Shockers, who will meet Indiana State in the title game Sunday.
Gavin Thurman led Missouri State (20-12) with nine points and Dorrian Williams added seven. Leading scorer Jarmar Gulley was limited to five points on 1-of-4 shooting for the Bears, who shot 31.9 percent and were outrebounded 35-28.
Just as it did in a quarterfinal win over Evansville, Wichita State took charge with a big run late in the first half, this time getting five straight 3-pointers - two apiece by Early and Cotton - in a 17-0 burst that made it 30-12 with three minutes before halftime. Early added another triple, the eighth of the half for the Shockers, to make it 33-17 in the final minute.
The Bears were within 37-23 after a jumper by Christian Kirk early in the second half before another eruption from the top seed, which scored 24 consecutive points to put it away. Missouri State went more than nine minutes without a point during the Wichita State surge in falling to the Shockers for the eighth straight time.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Wichita State has won its last five games by an average of 24.8 points. ... Gulley, who entered Saturday averaging 14.7 points, was 3-of-16 from the floor and scored 12 points in two tournament games. ... F Chadrack Lufile chipped in eight points on 4-of-4 shooting and a team-high six rebounds off the bench for the Shockers.
Top Game Performances
| Missouri St. |
|
Wichita St. |
|
Gavin Thurman 9 |
Scoring |
Cleanthony Early 20 |
|
Devon Thomas 3 |
Assists |
Fred VanVleet 5 |
|
Ron Mvouika 7 |
Rebounds |
Chadrack Lufile 6 |
|
Gavin Thurman 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Nick Wiggins 4 |
|
Jarmar Gulley 1 |
Steals |
Tekele Cotton 2 |
|
Gavin Thurman 1 |
Blocks |
Cleanthony Early 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Missouri St.
|
42 |
31.9 |
5-21 |
7-10 |
7 |
25 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
| Wichita St.
|
67 |
50.0 |
9-20 |
8-12 |
14 |
33 |
2 |
6 |
9 |
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