WICHITA, Kan.- Toure' Murry recorded his second double-double of the season as the Shockers shot down the Redbirds of Illinois State, 74-57, in front of a sold-out crowd inside Charles Koch Arena Saturday night.

Wichita State had three reach double figures as Ben Smith (14 points), Murry (13 points), and Garrett Stutz (10 points) helped the Shockers improve to 20-5 overall and 11-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Gabe Blair and David Kyles were right outside of double figures as they both chipped in nine points.  Illinois State fell to 11-13 on the season and 3-10 in conference play.  The Redbirds were led by Tony Lewis, who scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds. 

WSU won another battle on the boards as they outrebounded Illinois State 38-27.  Murry led the Shockers with 11 rebounds to add to his 13 points as he recorded his second double-double of the season. With the victory, the Shockers maintain sole possession of first place in the Valley.

Murry came out of the gate looking to score giving the Shockers' an early 5-1 lead off a back door cut to the basket and a 3-pointer the very next position. Gabe Blair wanted in on the action with a back door cut of his own to give the Shockers a 7-3 lead over the Redbirds.

Kyles extended the Shocker lead, 10-3, with his first 3-pointer of the game.  Trey Blue answered right back and ended the WSU run with a make from long range, Shockers up 10-6. Stutz scored his first two points of the game and gave the Shockers a 13-6 lead off of a turn around jumper on the block. 

Joe Ragland scored five straight points with a driving attack to the basket and a connection from beyond the arc to give Wichita State its first double-digit lead of the game, Shockers up 18-6. Smith added to that advantage with a long ball from the left wing as the Shocks went ahead 21-8.  Wichita State held the Redbirds to just one field goal in over four minutes of play, before Jackie Carmichael knocked down a jumper with 9:59 left to play in the half.  The last field goal scored by the Redbirds was at the 14:17 mark in the first half.

Austin Hill and Tony Lewis knocked down jumpers for Illinois State, but then Blair found J.T. Durley down low to extend the Shocker lead to 23-14.  Blair scored five straight points down low, including an old fashioned three point play, to push Wichita State ahead 29-17 going into the last media timeout of the first half.

Smith tipped in a Ragland miss at the buzzer to give the Shockers a 34-22 lead at the half.  Blair led Wichita State with seven points and four rebounds. Both Smith and Murry were right behind Blair with six first half points.  Illinois State was led in scoring by Lewis with nine points.  The Shocks out-rebounded the Redbirds, 20-15, and were led on the boards by Murry who had six first half rebounds.

Murry started his second half just like the first with a three point play right out of the gate to give the Shocks a 37-24 advantage.  Blair added to that lead with a strong post up down low and Wichita State went ahead 39-24.  Kyles missed a 3-pointer in the left corner, but was fouled in the act of shooting. He went to the line and knocked down all three free throws to extend the lead out to 18.

Stutz brought the fans inside Charles Koch arena to their feet with a connection from behind the arc with a little under 16-minutes left to play. His sixth 3-pointer on the season gave the Shockers a 47-29 advantage over Illinois State. The Shocks took their first twenty point lead of the game off of a basket down low from Stutz and another 3-pointer from Kyles with 14:38 left to play.

Smith continued his sharp shooting in Valley play knocking down another trey to extend the lead out to 55-34.  Aaron Ellis got in on the scoring knocking down his first two points of the game with a mid-range jumper to give the Shocks a 60-37 lead.

Wichita State maintained a twenty-point lead for most of the second half as they continued to build to their lead for the remainder of the game.  This allowed Coach Marshall to go deep into his bench.  Tyler Richardson put the Shockers ahead 74-48 on a slashing drive to the basket.  Wichita State cruised to a 74-57 victory over the Redbirds of Illinois State.

The Shockers play their second-straight home game as the Salukis of Southern Illinois come to Charles Koch Arena on Tues., Feb. 8.  Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. and action can be seen on Kansas 22.