Skip To Main Content

Wichita State Athletics

Events

Full Schedule
MBB: Shocks Shoot Past Loyola in Second Half

Men's Basketball Wichita State

MBB: Shocks Shoot Past Loyola in Second Half

Box Score

CHICAGO – Fred VanVleet's second homecoming went almost as well as the first.

The junior point guard scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and matched his career-high with 10 assists to lead No. 15 Wichita State to a 67-53 victory at Loyola.

VanVleet, who hails from nearby Rockford, Ill., went 6-for-6 from the field in his first appearance at the Gentile Center last season and knocked down all 10 of his free throw attempts.

Sunday's effort was equally impressive.

VanVleet connected on all five of his attempts from the floor, and his 10 assists came with only two turnovers. His lone missed shot, on his fourth-and-final free throw attempt of the night kept him from continuing that perfection for a second year.

VanVleet's hometown heroics were part of an impressive overall performance by the Shockers, who were down five points at halftime but shot 71.4 percent from the field in the second half to take control.

After scoring the first 10 points of the second half, WSU never trailed again.

Tekele Cotton finished with a game-high 16 points, connecting on four straight threes down the stretch, and Ron Baker added 15 points of his own. Darius Carter grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with eight points.

Earl Peterson led Loyola with 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc.

Loyola finished 10-of-18 from deep and hit 5-of-7 threes in the second half, but the Ramblers were just 7-of-28 from two-point distance.

The teams each grabbed 28 boards, but WSU outscored the hosts 22-10 in the paint and committed just six turnovers.

WSU won its 11th consecutive MVC road game and 22nd MVC game overall. The latter matched Southern Illinois for the longest streak by an active member of the conference.

SIU -- which posted 22 in a row from Feb. 2003 to March, 2004 -- will have a chance to protect its share of the modern record. The Salukis come to Wichita Wednesday night at 7p.m. CT.

WSU opened strong and led for the majority of the first half.

Baker hit two twisting jumpers – the second a three-pointer – and VanVleet knocked down a 10-footer of his own off the bounce. Carter alertly found Wessel for a backdoor layup, as WSU led 9-3, just over five minutes in.

Loyola's Donte Ingram made it a 9-6 game with a trey, but the Shockers answered. Cotton canned a jumper and VanVleet stripped a Rambler guard and fed Baker for a transition slam.

The Ramblers didn't score their first basket from inside the arc until the 10:17 mark of the first half but stayed close by knocking down three of their first six from deep to twice cut the Shocker lead down to two points.

Wessel made a tough fall-away with the shot clock winding down, and VanVleet drained a 15-footer on the next trip down to give WSU some breathing room, 21-15 with 5:41 to play in the half.

Instead, Loyola rolled into the half with 13-2 run, scoring the final 10 points. Knuth hit a trey. Doyle, Loyola's leading scorer, made up for a quiet start with five straight points on drives to the hoop.

Earl Peterson followed with a trey and one last jumper with five seconds to go, and the Ramblers took a 28-23 lead into the break – the Shockers' largest halftime deficit in just shy of a year.

Loyola's defense clogged the lane, daring the Shockers to shoot. Instead, WSU went just 1-for-9 from deep in the opening half and scored just two points over the final six minutes.

WSU needed less than three minutes to regain the lead, opening the second half with a 10-0 run.

Wessel scored on the block, and a driving Baker found Carter for another layup to get the Shockers to within 28-27. The Shockers, at last, found their three-point shooting touch, when Cotton drilled back-to-back treys for a 33-28 lead with 15:59 to go.

Baker buried two shots. VanVleet added a pair of free throws, then turned an inbound steal into an uncontested, transition layup to give WSU its biggest lead to that point, 41-31 with 12:27 left.

WSU hit 10 of its first 12 from the field to start the half, while Loyola missed 10 of 12.

VanVleet's circus drive made it a 47-37 game at the 10:35 mark.

VanVleet tallied his seventh assist of the night on a pretty post feed to Carter for a jam and a 49-39 edge with under nine to go. He drilled a trey at 4:53 for a 53-42 lead.

Loyola pulled back to within eight at 4:06 when Earl Peterson beat the shot block buzzer with a bank shot three from half court. Cotton neutralized the miracle shot with another triple from the corner, and the Shocker enjoyed a 56-45 advantage with 3:12 remaining.

Cotton further iced the game with his fourth straight triple of the half, and Wessel added one of his own a minute later for a 15 point lead with less than two minutes to go.


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

-Wichita State-

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Ron Baker

#31 Ron Baker

G
6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
Darius Carter

#12 Darius Carter

F
6' 7"
Senior
Tekele Cotton

#32 Tekele Cotton

G
6' 3"
Senior
Fred VanVleet

#23 Fred VanVleet

G
6' 0"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Ron Baker

#31 Ron Baker

6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
G
Darius Carter

#12 Darius Carter

6' 7"
Senior
F
Tekele Cotton

#32 Tekele Cotton

6' 3"
Senior
G
Fred VanVleet

#23 Fred VanVleet

6' 0"
Junior
G