CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Led by Ron Baker's 21 points, Wichita State handed Northern Iowa the worst home loss in the McLeod Center's 10-year history and avenged last season's lone Missouri Valley Conference setback, 74-55, Wednesday evening.
 

In leading WSU (13-5, 7-0 MVC) to its eighth-straight victory, Baker notched his fourth 20-point effort of the year on 5-of-9 shooting (3-of-5 from three and 8-of-8 from the line). In the process, he also moved past the 1400-point mark for his career.
 
Fred VanVleet had a strong all-around performance with 12 points, six rebounds, and six assists. WSU is now 11-1 since his return from his hamstring injury on December 5th.
 
Markis McDuffie added 15 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor and reached double-figures for the seventh time this year.
 
The Shockers led wire-to-wire. Baker's half court buzzer-beater gave them a 12-point halftime lead.
 
UNI knocked the margin down to half-a-dozen points on multiple occasions in the second half, but the Shockers had an answer each time.
 
After UNI had closed to within 58-52 with just over 4:00 to go, WSU finished out the game on a 16-3 run. Back-to-back treys by VanVleet provided the final 19-point margin – topping WSU's 18-point win at UNI in 2010-11 that previously stood as the building record for a visiting team.
 
The Shockers shot a season-best 56.5 percent with mirror 13-of-23 efforts in each half. Their 8-of-15 performance from three-point range (.533) was also a season-high.
 
A hot shooting effort helped WSU overcome an atypical night. The Shockers managed just three offensive rebounds and forced only eight turnovers – normally their bread and butter. WSU finished with a season-low three second-chance points.
 
Despite low turnover totals, the Shocker defense played well, keeping the Panthers out of the interior (14 points in the paint) and forcing them into tough perimeter shots. UNI hit just 27.3 percent in the first half and 32.7 percent for the game.
 
Wes Wasphun had 14 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists for the Panthers (10-10, 2-5 MVC). Matt Bohannon added 14 points as well, 12 of them from long range. Bennett Koch 14 points, but fouled out with 8:26 left in the game. Koch was also 8-9 from the free throw line.
 
Notes:
*The Shockers maintained their one-game lead over second-place Evansville and Southern Illinois. They're 7-0 in league play for the third-straight year but for just the fourth time overall since joining the MVC shortly after World War II.
 
*WSU extended its MVC road winning streak to eight-games – tied for the third-longest since 1950.
 
*VanVleet - who has dished out at least five assists in eight–straight games – notched his 107th career win, tying him with Demetric Williams for second on the school's all-time list. He trails record holder Tekele Cotton (120, 2011-15) by 13 with 12 regular season games left to go.
 
*Gregg Marshall earned his 217th win at WSU in nine seasons. He now three wins shy of all-time wins leader Ralph Miller (220).
 
Up Next:
The Shockers return to Wichita and host Bradley (3-17, 1-6) on Saturday, January 23. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., and the game can be viewed on Cox Channel Kansas.
 

-Wichita State-