Carbondale, Ill. - Wichita State improved to 3-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference after their 83-73 defeat of Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon.  Joe Ragland led WSU with 20 points and three other Shockers scored in doubles figures in the game.

Garrett Stutz, who had a career-high 29 points this past Wednesday night in the Shockers one-point win at Evansville, scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds against the Salukis.  Toure' Murry had solid numbers across the board with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists.  Demetric Williams added 11 points for Wichita State (12-3, 3-1 MVC).

Mamadou Sek had a double double for Southern Illinois (5-10, 2-2 MVC) with a team-high 15 points and 12 rebounds.  T.J. Lindsay added 14 points for SIU.

Wichita State built their largest lead of the game at 19 points with a 13-0 run to start the second half.  Stutz contributed four points and Ragland added five points in the run.

The Salukis battled back with a 12-0 to cut the deficit to 63-56 at the 8:43 mark after Lindsay's three-point play.

Ragland answered for WSU with a drive to the basket to end the Salukis run but the senior missed the free throw and the chance for his own three-point play.  SIU took advantage as Seek cut the lead to 65-60 with back-to-back layups before Marry knocked down two free throws for WSU. 

Five points would be as close as Southern Illinois would get as Ragland went to work for the Shockers, first with a three-pointer to push the lead to 70-60 and the Massachusetts native forced a steal from SIU on the following procession and ran the length of the court for a breakaway layup and extended the lead to 72-60 with 5:21 left in the game.

Southern Illinois mounted one final run of 7-2 to close the Shockers lead to 74-67 after Jeff Earl's bucket at the 2:16 mark.  Murry hit two more free throws to push the lead to 76-67 but Daniel Daniels bricked two from the line and Williams cleared the ball for WSU.

Wichita State put the game away from the free throw line in the final two minutes with Marry knocking down five and Carl Hall knocking down two to help the Shockers earn the victory.  Murry a pre-season first team All-MVC selection finished 8-of-10 from the line on Saturday.

The Shockers out-rebounded the Salukis, 36-30, and no opponent has out boarded Wichita State this season.  Hall was the leading rebounder for the Shocks with nine boards.

Wichita State will return to Charles Koch Arena on Tuesday night when they host Illinois State (11-4, 3-1 MVC).  Tip-off will be at 7:05 p.m. and will be shown on Kansas 22.

-WICHITA STATE-