WICHITA, Kan.- Evan Wessel and Rauno Nurger scored 15 points apiece, both career-highs, to lead the Wichita State men's basketball team past Saint Louis 81-52 inside INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday night.

Ron Baker added 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 3-for-4 from three-point range.

­Baker started the scoring for Wichita State laying the ball in at the 18:33 mark. Evan Wessel then hit a three-pointer on the next offensive possession to make the score 5-0 Shockers. Later, after Saint Louis hit a three of its own, Baker answered with a shot from long distance to put Wichita State up 9-5 at the first media timeout.

Fred VanVleet grabbed the rebound off a missed jumper by Saint Louis and drove the floor in transition for a layup at the 14:52 mark to give his team an 11-7 lead. Less than a minute later, Wessel hit his second three of the game to make it 14-7.

With 10:54 remaining in the half, Tekele Cotton completed an old-fashioned three-point play to give Wichita State its first double-digit advantage of the game, 20-10.

Rashard Kelly connected on a put-back dunk to force a Billiken timeout midway through the first half and VanVleet capped a 6-0 for Wichita State a couple of possessions later with a layup to stretch the Shocker lead to 26-11.

Wessel's three with a little more than five minutes to go in the first 20 minutes matched his career-high in points (11) and gave Wichita State a 21-point advantage, 34-13.

The Shockers would go up by as many 26 in the first frame and took a 45-25 lead into the locker room. Wichita State shot 15-for-24 (.625) from the field in the first half, including 5-for-10 from three-point land. The Shocks out-rebounded the Billikens 19-5 and outscored them in the paint 19-5 while holding them to 8-of-19 (.421) shooting.

Baker scored five-straight points for Wichita State to open the half and Wessel passed his career-high in points with a layup at 18:20 mark that gave the Shockers a 52-25 advantage.

The Billikens didn't hit their first basket of the half until almost five minutes into the second frame. The Shockers opened the half on a 13-0 run.

Baker hit a three and later, Rauno Nurger completed a three-point play to put the score at 69-36 Wichita State.

The Shocker lead never dipped below 24 the rest of the way and Wichita State went on to win 81-52.

Wichita State shot 28-for-52 (.538) from the field for the game, including 10-for-18 (.556) from three-point land. The Shockers out-rebounded the Billikens 41-20 and won the battle in the paint 32-10.

Seton Hall will come to Charles Koch Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 9 to take on the Shockers. Tip is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Purchase all your Shocker merchandise at the official Wichita State Team Store.