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Postgame InterviewsWICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State won its sixth-straight Missouri Valley Conference opener and extended its winning streak over Drake to eight-games with a 67-47 victory over the Bulldogs, Thursday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.
WSU's 38
th-consecutive home victory now matches Tulsa (1980-82) for the fourth-longest string in MVC history.
Wichita State (7-5, 1-0 MVC) is 56-8 at home against th MVC since the start of the 2008-09 season and now leads the all-time series with Drake (5-8, 0-1 MVC), 101-47.
Senior
Ron Baker led a trio of Shockers in double-figures, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the second half to go with five rebounds. He finished 5-of-7 overall from the field and knocked down 3-of-4 from downtown.
Fred VanVleet contributed 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting and tallied three steals. VanVleet's six assists helped him achieve another big milestone. Already WSU's all-time assists leaders (501), he becomes just the 14
th player in MVC history to reach the 500-mark.
Zach Brown chipped in 10 points and four rebounds in 24 minutes of action.
Behind 52 percent shooting in the second half, the Shockers finished the game at 42.6 percent (23-of-54), while knocking down 8-of-24 three-point attempts in the contest. WSU's defense again made life difficult for the opponent, holding Drake to just 37 percent shooting from the field and three-point range and forcing 18 Bulldog turnovers.
The Shockers owned the battle of the boards by outrebounding DU, 38-28, while also outscoring the Bulldogs in the paint (24-10) and off turnovers (26-13).
Kale Abrahamson and Graham Woodward led Drake with 12 points apiece, but also combined to turn the ball over 11 times between the two of them.
WSU extended its halftime lead to 19 just over five minutes into the second half on the heels of a 13-2 run. During the run the Shockers got five points from VanVleet and four each from Brown and
Anton Grady.
Baker connected on a corner three to push the Shockers' lead to 21 at the 8:30 mark. Just a few minutes later the Scott City native's third trey of the game put WSU ahead 60-38.
Wichita State started the game quickly by opening on an 8-1 run courtesy of a hook shot from
Shaquille Morris and three-pointers from Brown and VanVleet. The two teams remained close for a majority of the opening half with the Shockers' largest lead being only eight. After Drake tied the game at 25 near the four-minute mark, WSU closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 33-25 lead into the locker room.
VanVleet led the Shockers with eight first half points and four assists on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor. Wichita State began the game on a hot streak from the floor, but cooled down as the half went on and finished just 12-of-33 from the field, good for 36 percent. WSU knocked down its first three 3-point attempts, but made two of its final 13 attempts to close the half.
The Shockers relied on creating turnovers, as they forced nine Bulldog miscues and turned them into 15 points.
Drake shot 41 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of play. Abrahamson led all scorers with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
The Shockers hit the road Sunday to take on Bradley in a 1 p.m. CT tip that can be seen locally on Cox Channel Kansas and online via ESPN3. WSU then hosts Evansville on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
HEAD COACH, GREGG MARSHALL ON...…Defense against Drake."I thought our defense was the key to the game. We got a few stops there at the beginning of each half and midway through the second half we had some shot-clock violations and turnovers…"
…the team's development on offense."It's getting better, it's still not where it needs to be, or where it can be, but it's getting better. We've had less than 12 practices all year with the team we expected to have, and most of those have been recently - and I'm not even counting
Landry Shamet. It's good to just practice with these guys so they can be in different rotations and get used to where each other are going to be. Kind of like Ron and Fred have been yin and yang for three years now, they know where each other is going to be all the time, and Evan (Wessel) contributes in that capacity. These other guys now are getting enough practice time so they are going to get better at that also."
…Offense rebounding."You've got opportunities to go get them. As well-schooled as Drake is, we're better athletically than they are and they box out, but you've got to try and get a hand on it and get the ball free. It's vital, if you're going to shoot the way we're shooting you've got to get second chance opportunities and you've got to limit your turnovers. That's been our MO, we've gotten more shot attempts than the other team."
…Continuity with new group of players."I want our team to get better on a daily basis. We've got 17 more of these (games) and maybe a New Mexico State game and we're not even 40 percent through our season. Once again, we are as close to 100 percent as we are going to be for quite some time, but we're getting better in practice."
…Zach Brown's improvement."
Zach Brown is really coming. He knocked down a three early and got us a couple of easy baskets midway through the second half. His defense, you can throw him in there now as a fourth guy. I'm not going to put him in
Tekele Cotton's category yet, but he could end up being just as good or better because he's bigger and just as athletic but he's longer."
SENIOR GUARD, FRED VANVLEET ON...…Getting the young and new players to trust in the system."It's a process. It's taken some time, but now we've got Conner (Frankamp), guys like
Zach Brown have been coming along, getting Anton (Grady) back healthy…I feel like we're going in the right direction and playing pretty well, except for losing to Seton Hall.
It's a day-to-day thing where we're going to try to get better each day. I know it's cliché, but it's what we're focusing on right now."
…High use of various rotations in the game"A lot of guys played, but it just depends. Guys have good practices, then have good games so their (minutes) go up, and vice versa. We've got enough guys and talent on the roster to have a deep rotation, but it's just a matter of those guys being able to step up and be consistent."
SOPHOMORE GUARD, CONNER FRANKAMP ON...
…His role in the offense and getting comfortable"I feel a lot more comfortable (compared to the beginning of his season). The first few games were nerve-wracking for me, but getting the first few under my belt has helped my confidence.
(I'm trying) to be aggressive when the defense gives me a chance to be, and don't be overly aggressive."
SOPHOMORE FORWARD, ZACH BROWN ON...…Defensive game plan for containing Drake's perimeter shooters"Keeping a hand in their 'shooting pocket,' don't give them too much space to get their shot off. They shoot it quick, and they're accurate. Guard without fouling…and pushing back to guard the dribble, because they can all put it on the floor."
…The pre-season comparisons of his defensive game to Tekele Cotton"It's something that comes to mind from time to time, but I really don't like to compare myself to people. I like to focus on myself and just try to be the best player and person I can be."
-Wichita State-
