DES MOINES, Iowa – Cleanthony Early scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the No.5/No. 4 Shockers (21-0, 8-0) defeated Drake (11-9, 2-6) by a score of 78-61 at the Knapp Center. Ron Baker chipped in with 14 points of his own while Nick Wiggins had 11 points off the bench.

The Shockers shot 29-55 (52.7%) from the field including 7-20 (35%) from three. WSU was also 13-15 (86.7%) from the free-throw line. Drake shot 20-45 (44.4%) from the field including 10-21 from three (47.6%). The Bulldogs shot 11-17 (64.7%) from the free-throw line.

Wichita State won the rebound battle, as they out-rebounded Drake 34-20.

The first score of the game came from a five-foot jumper by Aaron Hawley with 18:20 left in the first half. Fred VanVleet was later fouled attempting a layup with 17 minutes left in the first half. He would make the second of two free-throws to give the Shockers their first point of the game.

Richard Carter of Drake took the ball down the length of the court to give the Bulldogs an early 4-1 advantage. Baker made his first two free-throws to cut the lead to 4-2 in favor of Drake. Baker then hit a three to give the Shockers a 5-4 lead with 16:08 left in the first half. That was the Shockers' first lead of the game.

Another Bulldog turnover and a Baker layup forced a timeout by Drake. This gave the Shockers a 7-4 lead due to a 6-0 run, all from Baker.

Richard Carter made a three to tie the game at seven apiece, and then Early converted a three-point play. His three-point play was his first points of the game and gave the Shockers a 10-7 lead at the first media timeout.

Hawley tied the game at ten after hitting a three. Early hit a three of his own to untie the game and provide the Shockers with a 13-10 advantage. Chris Caird hit a three to knot the game at 13, and then Darius Carter hit a mid-range jumper to give WSU a 15-13 lead.

Richard Carter made a jump shot to tie the game at 15, and Cotton made a jumper to give WSU a 17-15 advantage. Early finished off another three-point play to give the Shockers a 19-15 lead at the second media timeout.

Another three by Early extended the Shocker lead to 30-24 with 6:35 left in the first half. Richard Carter would pick up his second foul with 4:35 left in the first half, and then Darius Carter converted a three-point play to give WSU a 32-26 lead at the first half's last media timeout.

Richard Carter would pick up his third foul with 3:16 left in the first half. VanVleet then converted both of his free-throws to push the Shocker lead to 35-26. Hawley made a three to cut the lead to 35-29 with 3:04 left in the first half.

Cotton threw down a one-handed alley-oop from Baker and blocked Drake's final shot of the first half to give WSU a 37-29 halftime lead.

WSU was 13-28 (46.4%) from the field, 4-10 (40%) from three and was 7-9 (77.8%) from the free-throw line during the first 20 minutes of the game. Drake was 11-26 (42.3%), shot 5-12 (41.7%) from three and was just 2-2 (100%) from the free throw line.

The Shockers won the rebound battle in the first half by a count of 17-14 over Drake. Early led all scorers with 12 points while Baker and Hawley had 11 points apiece.

Cotton began the scoring in the second half with a transition dunk. This allowed WSU to go up 39-29. WSU would use a Darius Carter dunk to extend their lead to 50-35 with 14:22 left.

Cotton hit a jumper to cap a 9-0 run and extend the Shocker lead to 52-35. Caird hit a three and Jordan Daniels hit two threes in a row to end the Shocker run and cut the Shocker lead to 54-44. Nick Wiggins would put a stop to Drake's momentum by converting a three-point play to extend the lead to 57-44.

Early made a three and then had a put-back dunk to widen the Shocker lead to 62-44. Wiggins converted a three-point play after being fouled while attempting to shoot the ball off of the backboard. At the time, the Shockers were on an 11-0 run that extended their lead to 65-44.

Wiggins made a three and Early hit a layup to expand the Shocker lead to 75-50 with 4:39 left in the game. This was a lead that the Shockers would never relinquish.

Wichita State's next game will be Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. against Loyola at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita. The game can be seen on KS22.

-WICHITA STATE-