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Early, Wichita State avoid shocker

Several Wichita State players on the bench motion to the Illinois State student section during the second half Wednesday night in Normal, Ill. The fifth-ranked Shockers improved to 20-0 with a 70-55 victory. Wichita State is one of three remaining unbeaten teams in the country.
Several Wichita State players on the bench motion to the Illinois State student section during the second half Wednesday night in Normal, Ill. The fifth-ranked Shockers improved to 20-0 with a 70-55 victory. Wichita State is one of three remaining unbeaten teams in the country.

NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State was thinking about a big upset for a while.

After a dominant second half by No. 5 Wichita State at Redbird Arena on Wednesday night, Illinois State was just thinking about how it couldn’t stop Cleanthony Early.

Early, Wichita’s 6-8 senior All-America candidate, scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds as the Shockers wiped out a three-point halftime deficit and rolled past Illinois State 70-55.

Wichita State (20-0, 7-0) is one of three remaining unbeaten teams in the country, along with No. 1 Arizona and No. 2 Syracuse.

Illinois State (11-8, 4-3) had won 10 of 13 coming in and is tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“To beat a team like that you have to play 40 solid minutes, and we didn’t,” Illinois State Coach Dan Muller said. “We didn’t get any loose balls and rebounds in the second half, like we had in the first.”

Wichita State becomes the second MVC team to open a season 20-0, joining Larry Bird’s Indiana State team of 1978-79 that reached 33-0 before losing the national championship game to Michigan State.

“I think it’s a pretty big accomplishment, considering the other team to do it was Indiana State and who was on that team,” Wichita State’s Ryan Baker said.

Illinois State led throughout most of the first half. The Redbirds took a 28-25 lead into intermission on Bobby Hunter’s buzzer-beating layup off a full-court set play.

Marshall was asked if he knew his team would come out more aggressive in the second half.

“I hoped,” he said. “We haven’t had consecutive bad halves all year, knock on wood. The biggest thing was we didn’t turn it over against their extended 2-3 zone. In the first half, we didn’t score against it. In the second half, we made some plays going to the basket.”

None better than the last of Tekele Cotton’s 12 points, a thunderous, baseline dunk with 2:55 left.

“It was indescribable,” said Baker, who scored 15 points despite 3-of-12 shooting. “I thought they were just going to end the game right there.”

Illinois State was led by Daishon Knight, who scored eight of his 12 from the free throw line. The Redbirds’ starters combined for just 11 field goals.

Illinois State shot 32.2 percent overall (19 of 59).

The Shockers made 11 of 27 from three-point range compared to just 1 of 25 for Illinois State.

“He’s the one who shot well,” Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall said of Early. “The others just shot OK. Six for nine for him is tremendous.”

MINNESOTA 81, NO. 9 WISCONSIN 68

MINNEAPOLIS - DeAndre Mathieu and Mo Walker scored 18 points each while providing an outside-inside combination that pushed Minnesota (15-5, 4-3) to victory over No. 9 Wisconsin (16-3, 3-3), the Badgers’ third consecutive loss.

Malik Smith added 14 points, including a three-pointer that just beat the shot clock with 39 seconds left. Austin Hollins had 11 points and four steals for the Golden Gophers. Walker grabbed nine rebounds, and Mathieu was 8 for 13 from the floor.

Sam Dekker led the Badgers with 20 points and six rebounds. Nigel Hayes added 12 points, and Frank Kaminsky and Josh Gasser had nine points apiece.

NO. 21 MICHIGAN 75, NO. 10 IOWA 67

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Nik Stauskas scored 26 points, and No. 21 Michigan held off No. 10 Iowa to remain unbeaten in the Big Ten.

The Wolverines (14-4, 6-0) have won eight in a row to set up a showdown in East Lansing on Saturday night with rival Michigan State, the Big Ten’s only other unbeaten team in conference play.

Aaron White scored 14 of Iowa’s points in a row down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough to rally the Hawkeyes (15-4, 4-2) from an 11-point deficit.

White and Melsahn Basabe scored 17 points each for Iowa.

NO. 12 LOUISVILLE 86, SOUTH FLORIDA 47

TAMPA, Fla. - Wayne Blackshear scored 16 points to pace a balanced offense that carried No. 12 Louisville to a rout of cold-shooting South Florida.

Luke Hancock and Montrezl Harrell had 14 points apiece for the Cardinals (17-3, 6-1), who shot 52.2 percent from beyond the three-point arc and just under 51 percent overall.

South Florida (10-9, 1-5) lost to a ranked opponent for the second time in less than a week, shooting just 36 percent from the field.

The Bulls, coming off a seven-point loss to American Athletic Conference leader Cincinnati, turned the ball over 23 times while allowing Louisville to outscore them 35-6 off miscues.

Chris Perry led USF with 10 points.

RICHMOND 58, NO. 13 MASSACHUSETTS 55

RICHMOND, Va. - Kendall Anthony scored 21 points and Richmond hung on in the final minute to beat No. 13 Massachusetts in an Atlantic 10 Conference game.

Anthony made his first four three point attempts for Richmond (13-6, 3-1), including one from the right side after the Minutemen had closed to within 52-48 with 4:10 remaining.

Sampson Carter had 15 points to lead UMass (16-2, 3-1). He made a three-pointer with 2:26 to play, and when Cady Lalanne followed a Richmond miss with a dunk, the Minutemen were within 55-53 with 38.3 seconds to play.

NO. 18 DUKE 67, MIAMI 46

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Jabari Parker had 17 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, and No. 18 Duke earned its first league road victory of the season by beating Miami in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Parker helped the Blue Devils to a 42-28 advantage on the boards, which allowed them to overcome a poor shooting night. Duke outscored Miami 22-7 on second-chance points.

A sellout crowd included Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, all seated in the front row.

The Blue Devils (15-4, 4-2) avenged a 27-point loss the last time they played in Coral Gables. That was a year ago, when Duke was ranked No. 1.

Defending conference champion Miami (10-8, 2-4) remained winless in three league games at home.

NO. 19 SAINT LOUIS 76, DUQUESNE 72

PITTSBURGH - Mike McCall scored 13 points, including two free throws with 13 seconds remaining, as No. 19 Saint Louis avoided an upset by beating Duquesne in an Atlantic 10 Conference Game.

Reserve forward Grandy Glaze added 12 points and Rob Loe had 10 for the Billikens (18-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10), who won their 12th consecutive game.

Ovie Soko scored 18 points to lead Duquesne (8-9, 1-4).

The Dukes went ahead 72-70 on Jeremiah Jones’ free throws with 57 seconds remaining, but Austin McBroom made a three-pointer that gave the Billikens a 73-72 lead with 47 seconds left.

The Dukes had a chance to take the lead with 13 seconds remaining, but Dominique McKoy missed a reverse layup.

McCall rebounded and was fouled, and he made two free throws to seal the game.

NO. 25 OKLAHOMA 77, TCU 69

NORMAN, Okla. - Ryan Spangler scored all 13 of his points in the second half and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to help Oklahoma (15-4, 4-2 Big 12) hold off Texas Christian (9-9, 0-6).

Buddy Hield had 16 points and Cameron Clark added 15 for the Sooners, who moved into a tie for second place in the Big 12 despite struggling against the last-place team in the league.

The Sooners had trouble scoring for much of the night but made up for it by playing one of their best defensive games. Oklahoma held TCU to 43 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers.

Kyan Anderson scored 23 points for TCU.

Sports, Pages 18 on 01/23/2014

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