WICHITA, Kan.- Neither team scored over the last 3:28 as Evansville hung on to defeat Wichita State 59-56 on Wednesday night at Charles Koch Arena.

Tekele Cotton had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Shockers who finished their home season with a record of 15-2. Cleanthony Early scored 10 points and Malcolm Armstead added five steals.

Colt Ryan led the way for Evansville with 29 points, shooting 10-for-18 from the field and 3-for-6 from behind the arc.

Ryan put Evansville (17-13, 9-8) up 10-6 at the first media timeout with a driving layup. The bucket started a 9-0 run for the Purple Aces that was ended by a Nick Wiggins 3-pointer for Wichita State (24-6, 12-5) that cut the lead to 19-9 with 12:41 remaining in the half.

Early drove to the basket and scored off an assist from Wiggins at the 9:14 mark to cut the Evansville lead to seven, 23-16. The teams would trade baskets for the rest of the half and Ryan hit a 2-point jumper with eight seconds remaining to put his team up 38-28 at the break.

The Shockers shot 11-for-26 (.423) from the field in the half and out-rebounded the Purple Aces 20-10. Evansville was 14-for-25 (.560), including 7-for-10 (.700) from behind the arc.

Early in the second half, Wichita State went on an 11-0 run that was capped by a Fred VanVleet jumper at the 13:06 mark to tie the game at 42 all. Senior Demetric Williams scored five points during the run.

The Purple Aces went back up five, 47-42, on a 3-pointer from Jordan Nelson and a 2-point jumper from Troy Taylor with 10:20 remaining in the game. Wichita State took their first lead of the game two minutes later on back-to-back dunks by Hall and Early. Then, a 3-pointer from Armstead put the Shockers up 53-49 at the 8:05 mark.

Ryan gave Evansville the lead again, 54-53, with a layup at the 6:07 mark. Cotton's dunk at the 3:28 mark were the last points scored in the contest.

Wichita State will play it's last regular season game on Saturday, March 2 when they travel to Omaha, Neb. for a game against Creighton at 1:05 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN or ESPN2.

-WICHITA STATE-