ST. LOUIS – A repeat bid from top-seed Wichita State came up two wins short after a 65-62 loss to fourth-seeded Illinois State on Semifinal Saturday at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Fred VanVleet led WSU (28-4) with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Ron Baker scored 13 points and dished out seven assists to go with six boards.

Daishon Knight paced ISU (21-11) with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. The Redbirds shot 63.2 percent from the field in the second half to overcome an eight-point halftime deficit.

WSU trailed by five points with 39 seconds to go before mounting a furious comeback. VanVleet was fouled and converted two free throws.

The Shockers pressured the inbound, and VanVleet intercepted a risky pass near midcourt. His driving layup cut the ISU lead to 63-62 with 17 seconds remaining.

WSU tried again for a steal, but ISU played keep-away for 10 precious seconds before the Shockers were able to foul. Knight connected on two free throws with seven seconds left.

VanVleet's guarded three missed ahead of the buzzer.

Tekele Cotton put up 12 points for WSU to go with nine from Darius Carter. Shaquille Morris (4), Evan Wessel (3) and Zach Brown (2) rounded out the scoring for the Shockers, who saw a nine-game winning streak come to an end.

The Shockers – ranked eighth nationally – are widely considered to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament. They'll learn their opponent and destination on March 15.

Both sides got out to hot shooting starts in a back-and-forth opening sequence. Four different Shockers scored in the first three-and-a-half minutes.

WSU hit nine of its first 11 from the field, and ISU knocked down 5-of-7.

Akoon-Purcell connected on a jumper for ISU to knot the game at 12 at the 15:21 mark, but the WSU defense buckled down over the next 10 minutes, launching a 14-2 run.

Baker and the Shocker defense forced three straight Redbird turnovers and converted them into two dunks and a layup to swing the momentum.

WSU has success pushing the ball up the floor, tallying eight fastbreak points in the first half. Cotton threw down an alley-oop off a pretty feed from VanVleet, and Baker took off with an outlet pass from VanVleet for an uncontested lay-in.

The latter stretched the Shocker lead to 26-14 with 4:03 to play in the half.

ISU ended a prolonged cold spell (just two points over a stretch of just over 12 minutes) to slice the WSU lead in half. Lee and Knight connected on back-to-back threes to pull the Redbirds to within 26-20.

The Shockers immediately answered. Baker nudged a lower-arcing jumper over the rim from 15 feet out - the last of 13 first half points - and VanVleet found an open lane to the hoop for two more.

WSU entered the half up 30-22.

The Shockers led 36-27 with 17:52 remaining in the game before the Redbirds mounted a 14-0 run.

-Wichita State-