NORMAL, Ill. -- Led by senior guard Osiris Eldridge's 16 second-half points, Illinois State turned Wichita State's halftime lead into the team's second loss of the season as the Shockers fell on the road in their Missouri Valley Conference opener on Tuesday night, 72-57.

Junior forward Gabe Blair paced the Shockers (11-2, 0-1) with an efficient 6-for-8 performance for a team-leading 12 points. Fellow junior JT Durley and senior Clevin Hannah also reached double figures for the Shocks, scoring 10 and 11, respectively.

Eight of Blair's points came in a first half of action in which the Shockers shot 50-percent from the field and from behind the arc. Before Blair knocked down the jumper that gave the Shocks the halftime lead, the teams treated the crowd of nearly 7,500 at Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena to a back-and-forth battle. Neither team led by more than six in the opening 20 minutes while the two tied the score four times.

Sophomore guard Toure' Murry drained a three in the first minute of the game before Eldridge answered with one of his own. While Eldridge would go on to score 23 more points, the early three was the only bucket Murry recorded on Tuesday night.

The Shockers played unfazed, picking up key points from junior Aaron Ellis and Blair to keep the game tight. WSU shook off a 24-18 deficit with eight minutes remaining in the half with a pair of clutch threes from Durley to tie the game, 26-26. Blair's jumper cemented the 30-29 Shocker halftime lead.

Although Eldridge started the second half with a blistering hot shooting hand, the Shockers continued to answer for the first five minutes. While the preseason All-MVC selection drained a pair of threes, Hannah and Ellis answered with big shots.

The answers slowed further into the half, however, as Eldridge and Tony Lewis combined for 23 points as Illinois State shot at a 57-percent clip in the final 20 minutes. Eldridge's fifth three of the game gave the Redbirds their first double-digit lead of the game with 12 minutes remaining. Wichita State continued to battle but could not pull closer than eight points in the final minutes as the Shockers fell, 72-57.

WSU returns home to take on Drake and Bradley over the New Year's weekend. Tip-off for the Drake game is set for 7:05 p.m. on New Year's Day.