WICHITA ? Toure' Murry scored a career high 19 points and led Wichita State to a 76-64 win over Gardner-Webb Friday night in front of 10,206 fans inside Charles Koch Arena.

Garrett Stutz needed just 11 seconds to put the first points on the board for the Shockers, putting a pass from Toure' Murry into the bucket and giving the Shockers an early 2-0 lead.

Gardner-Webb responded quickly, taking advantage of cold shooting early by WSU, and owned a 5-2 lead just 90 seconds into the game. Nearly three minutes later the Shockers had tied it, 7-7, less than five minutes into the game.

The long ball became an important weapon over the next four minutes as the Shockers put together a 12-4 behind four consecutive three pointers. Reggie Chamberlain gave WSU 10-8 lead with his three-ball. Murry dumped in two of his own, boosting WSU's lead to 16-9, and Chamberlain added another trey for good measure, giving WSU a 19-11 lead at the 11:45 mark.

After trading free throws with the Bulldogs for the next five minutes, Murry and the Shockers decided it was time to shoot the long ball once again. Murry's three at the 8:13 mark gave WSU a 28-15 lead. Hawkins contributed to the cause with a three pointer of his own with 7:29 to play to give the Shockers a 31-19 advantage with just under seven minutes to play in the half.

Wichita State would extend its lead to as many as 14 at the 2:14 mark, but the Bulldogs clawed back, outscoring the Shockers 7-2 over the final two minutes of the half, and whittling the WSU lead to nine at the break, 41-32.

Keeping with the theme, Clevin Hannah opened the second half with a three-pointer for his first points of the contest, and immediately pushed the WSU lead back to 12. The Shocker defense then flexed its muscle, holding the Bulldogs without a field goal for nearly the first three minutes of the second stanza. When GWU's Auryn MacMillen finally hit a jumper, Chamberlain answered with WSU's ninth three-pointer of the night. Two Murry free throws on the ensuing Shocker possession gave WSU another 13-point cushion, 49-36, with 16:01 to play.

The Bulldogs scored the first four points coming out of the 16-minute media timeout to draw within six points, 49-43, but WSU responded with a 9-2 run of their own thanks J.T. Durley and Murry to re-establish a 13-point lead, 58-45, at the 12-minute mark.

Gardner-Webb responded once again, this time using a 10-4 run over the next five minutes to draw within seven. The Bulldogs took advantage of several missed Shocker lay-ups and turned them into points via short jumpers and lay-ups themselves. With just over seven minutes to play, WSU found itself with a seven-point lead, 62-55.

Outside of another three ball by Hannah, the game turned into a free throw contest for the final five minutes as the Shockers held on for the victory. Mantas Griskenas sealed the deal for the Shockers with his first dunk of the season with just 10 seconds remaining to give WSU its final score of 76-64.

The Shockers were led by Murry, who put on a career-best scoring performance with 19 points, breaking his previous record of 18 points just four games earlier against Siena. Hannah and Durley each finished with 12 points for the Shockers, while Chamberlain and Hawkins contributed nine of their own. Wichita State finished with 10 three pointers in the contest for the first time since last season's ESPN Bracket Busters game at Northern Arizona.

Aaron Linn and Auryn MacMillen each scored 17 points to lead Gardner-Webb.

With the win, the Shockers improve to 4-5 on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-6. Wichita State will return to action Dec. 20 when they host Northern Arizona in a return game from last season's Bracket Busters match-up. Tip-off at Charles Koch Arena is slated for 7:05 p.m.

-Wichita State-