NORMAL, Ill.  -- Wichita State clinched the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball regular-season title outright with a 68-55 win against Illinois State Wednesday at Redbird Arena.

The No. 19 Shockers entered the game having already clinched at least a share of the league title, but Wednesday's victory guaranteed they would become solo regular-season champions for the first time since 2006.

Senior guard Joe Ragland led Wichita State with 14 points and senior center Garrett Stutz recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Demetric Williams and Ben Smith added 11 points each for the Shockers, who won for the seventh-straight game. Wichita State improved to 25-4 overall and 15-2 in conference play.

Illinois State fell to 17-12 overall and 8-9 in the MVC. Bryant Allen led all players with 17 points for the Redbirds.

Wichita State grabbed an early 5-0 lead, which included a game-opening three-pointer from Toure' Murry and a Stutz layup.

The Shockers' lead grew to 11 points on a Williams' trey, followed by a Carl Hall layup, for a 15-4 edge.

Illinois State cut Wichita State's lead to four points with about six minutes remaining in the half, but the Shockers answered with five-straight points to regain a 29-20 lead.

Williams scored the Shockers' final eight points of the half, pushing Wichita State ahead, 34-22, at halftime.

Williams scored 11 first-half points on 4-for-4 shooting to lead Wichita State. Murry added seven points and Stutz grabbed five rebounds in the opening period.

A Murry layup gave Wichita State a 15-point lead early in the second half.

A free throw from Illinois State's Nic Moore cut the Shocker lead to seven points before back-to-back three-pointers from Smith and Ragland pushed the Shockers ahead, 45-3, with 14:30 to play.

A steal and dunk from David Kyles midway through the half maintained a 12-point Shocker lead.

Back-to-back three-pointers once again from Ragland and Smith created a 57-40 edge for Wichita State.

Wednesday's win gave Wichita State its most wins in the Valley since the 1982-83 season when the Shockers went 17-1 in conference play.

The Valley has had six different regular-season champions in the past six seasons. Southern Illinois won in 2007, Drake in 2008, UNI/Creighton in 2009, UNI in 2010, Missouri State in 2011 and Wichita State in 2012.

The Shockers close out the regular season at home, playing host to Drake at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 on Senior Day. The game can be seen on the MVC Network on FSN.

- Wichita State -