Box Score WICHITA, Kan. - The Wichita State men's basketball team won its fifth game in last six tries and moved to 8-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play and 17-9 on the season with a 69-64 win over Illinois State (12-14, 4-11) Sunday afternoon inside Charles Koch Arena.
Junior P.J. Couisnard led four Shockers in double-figures with 17 points. Karon Bradley went 3-for-5 from behind the arc on his way to 14 points, while Kyle Wilson chipped in 13 points. Ryan Martin went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and was nearly perfect at the line going 4-for-5, finishing with 12 points.
Levi Dyer paced the Redbird attack with a game-high 22 points. Dyer caught fire in the second half and finished the game 4-of-6 from three-point range. Greg Dilligard and Anthony Slack finished in double-figures with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
ISU got off to a quick start as three quick baskets gave the Redbirds a 7-0 lead. Martin got things rolling for WSU with two layups in just 38 seconds. A Couisnard dunk and Wilson three-pointer tied the game at nine. The Shockers took their first lead of the game on a Bradley three-pointer with 12:39 to play in the half.
Both teams battled back and forth, as the first half saw the lead change hands three times with six ties. WSU used back-to-back dunks by Martin and Couisnard to gain momentum and went into the locker room with a 36-31 lead.
Wilson found Couisnard on a back-door play for a dunk on the Shockers' first possession of the second half before two Martin free-throws extended the lead to nine, 40-31, with 19:27 in the half.
WSU took its biggest lead of the game, 54-43, on two Wilson free-throws with 13 minutes left in the game. The Redbirds then went on a 10-0 run, fueled by two three-pointers from Dyer, to cut the lead to 54-53 with 10 minutes to play. WSU kept the Redbirds out of striking distance with key free-throws and two big plays by Bradley.
Bradley pushed the Shocker lead to six with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Two minutes later, Bradley drove hard to the basket and came away with a layup between three ISU defenders to give WSU a 65-59 lead with four and a half minutes left.
“Karon made big plays for us down the stretch,” said head coach Mark Turgeon.
WSU did not score again however for four minutes. In the meantime, the Redbirds came back again. An Osiris Eldridge layup pulled ISU within one, 65-64, with 1:32 showing on the clock. Two free-throws by Couisnard pushed the lead to three with 13 seconds remaining.
The Redbirds had one last shot to tie the game but Eldridge's three-point attempt rimmed out. Bradley rebounded the ball, was fouled, and hit two-free throws to seal the 69-64 win.
“This is a big win for us,” Turgeon said. “This time of year every win is big.”
WSU finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor. The Redbirds shot 54 percent for the game, but only managed seven free-throw attempts to WSU's 30. The Shockers out-rebounded ISU 30-20 and were led by seven rebounds from Phil Thomasson.
“The guys believe we were going to win and we played with great confidence,” said Turgeon. “They (Illinois State) are a heck of a 4-11 team and have a lot of talent.”
The Shockers next travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to take on the Drake Bulldogs on Wed., Feb. 14. Tip-off is at 7:05 p.m. and will be telecast on Kansas Now 22 with Bruce Haertl and Craig Steven calling the action.
