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Postgame Interviews WICHITA, Kan. – A
Zach Brown three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining helped Wichita State fend off Evansville, 67-64, Wednesday night in a battle of Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorites.
Brown's clutch basket – his only points of the night and one of just two field goal attempts– gave the WSU (9-5, 3-0 MVC) a two-possession lead and helped slam the door on a resilient Evansville (13-3, 2-1 MVC).
The Shockers won their 39
th-straight at home and now sit in a three-way tie for first-place with Illinois State and Southern Illinois at 3-0. At least one of those teams will reach 4-0, with WSU and SIU due to meet on Saturday in Carbondale (3 p.m. CT, CBS Sports Network).
Anton Grady led the Shockers – picked first in the MVC preseason poll - with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and snagged a team-high seven rebounds, and
Fred VanVleet narrowly missed a double-double with 16 points and nine assists.
Brown,
Markis McDuffie and
Ron Baker were part of a rotating cast of defenders that helped hold Evansville star D.J. Balentine to a season-low 14 points on 17 shots and harassed him into five turnovers.
Evansville's Egidijus Mockevicius – the nation's leading rebounder – upped his total with 16 boards but finished with just nine points on 2-of-4 shooting (5-of-10 at the foul line) to miss out on his 14
th double-double.
Still, the Aces – picked second in the MVC preseason poll - kept the Shockers within arms length with strong performances from their supporting cast. Jaylon Brown emerged for 18 points on an array of drives and jumpers, and Adam Wing tacked on 12 points.
The Shockers built a pair of eight-point leads in the opening half but settled for a 32-27 margin heading into the break. They built a 50-41 advantage at the 8:49-mark when Grady erupted for four field goals in five minutes, but Evansville rallied to tie the game at 57 with 3:32 to play on a Brown drive to the basket.
Evan Wessel responded, swishing a corner three for a 60-57 margin with just under 3 minutes to go.
The Aces made headway at the foul line, sinking 6-of-8 over the final 2:36, but WSU had an answer for each.
VanVleet zipped a slick pass to Grady for an uncontested layup with 2:10 to go and made a tough, twisting runner through traffic with exactly 1:00 left that upped the lead to 64-61.
After a UE free throw cut the WSU lead to two, Brown cashed in a three on a drive and kick from
Fred VanVleet to put the Shockers up by five with 19 seconds showing. A pair of Mockevicius free throws brought Evansville within three, 67-64, with nine seconds remaining.
WSU's Brown then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with six ticks left on the clock, giving the Aces one last gasp at overtime. Instead, Grady poked the ball loose near midcourt, draining valuable seconds, and Balentine was whistled for a traveling violation while scrambling to hoist a halfcourt shot.
The Shockers held an Evansville team averaging 81.0 points per game to 17 below its season average.
WSU finished the game at 44.1 percent from the field (26-of-59) and went 7-of-18 from three-point range. The Aces shot an efficient 52 percent in the second half and 47.8 percent for the game (22-of-46) but attempted 13 fewer shots. The teams finished even on the boards at 31-apiece.
Evansville took an early 9-8 lead to open the game, but the Shockers responded with a 9-0 run to take a 17-9 lead nearing the halfway mark of the first half. Grady tallied five of the nine points during the run after coming off the bench.
After the Purple Aces pulled within a point, 22-21, at the eight-minute mark, WSU immediately answered with six straight points to take a 32-24 lead with just under four minutes left until halftime. To close out the first half, Wichita State went scoreless the final 3:52 and Evansville only scored three points during that span. The Shockers led 32-27 at the break, as the two teams finished the half a combined 3-of-17 from the field in the closing minutes.
Baker and Grady scored seven points apiece to lead Wichita State in the first 20 minutes. Grady was key in providing a spark in the first half off the bench with his seven points and three boards in 10 minutes of action. VanVleet added four points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Up NextSaturday afternoon, WSU travels to face Southern Illinois (13-2, 2-0 MVC) in a 3 p.m. CT tip on CBS Sports Network. SIU – picked ninth out of 10 teams in the MVC preseason poll – has been one of the league's biggest surprises. The Salukis knocked off Northern Iowa last Saturday, behind 32 points from MVC Co-Player of the Week Anthony Beane, to improve to 7-1 at SIU Arena this season. The Salukis' 13 wins is one more than they posted all of last season with still 16 games to play.
POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
GREGG MARSHALL ON...…Anton Grady improving his offensive game?"He was getting it (basketball) pretty deep. He was able to back them down a couple times, and he made a few jumpers…He made some good moves.
…Fred VanVleet making right decisions in tough situations"That's who we want to have it. He's obviously our quarterback, and he's our leader. He triggers those plays."
…His team's plus-four turnover margin in a game that came down to the final possession."We zap them in practice every day if they're careless with the ball and turn it over. We hold them accountable in practice…When you get 13 more shots it's crucial. They (Evansville) go to the line 11 more times but we had 13 more field goal attempts and had four more baskets, so that's big…We've got senior guards out there who are pretty good at taking care of it and valuing the basketball. Between the two point guards tonight, Ron and Fred, they had 12 assists and four turnovers, so that's a good ratio."
…On Evansville's Jaylon Brown"Fred was told going into the game to help off of him a little more. We're going to have to adjust that scouting report. Brown was really good and shooting the ball confidently, which he had not been doing. I thought he played a whale of a game, he was a real difference-maker for them."
…Upcoming game against Southern Illinois?"It's amazing what Barry (Hinson) has done in Carbondale with that group. I haven't watched them, but I'll start that in the morning….He's got the right chemistry going, and they've won 14 games now. Tonight would be their 14
th win and I think they won 12 all of last year. Kudos to him…I'd like to see him play really well except for the couple times they have to play us."
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ZACH BROWN ON… ...His clutch three-pointer with 19 seconds to play"I wasn't really taking shots [all game], but I was trying to keep my mind in the game on the offensive end to where if I did have to take a shot, I'd get my feet set and knock it down.
I heard the countdown of the shot clock. Really, I just caught it and shot it. There wasn't a mindset towards it, I just had to be ready. When my name was called, I had to step up."
...Defending Evansville star D.J. Balentine"Amazing scouting by coach (Isaac) Brown, and just trying to pay attention and study him [on film]. Making sure that I had their offense down pat so that I could trail him as much as I could and make plays.
I wanted to trail his footsteps and make sure that everywhere he went, I went. I wasn't the only one guarding him, Ron (Baker) did just as well as I did, so did Markis [McDuffie]. They should get just as much credit as I do."
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ANTON GRADY ON… …His performance and how he can build on it after his scary injury"Playing a good game is always a boost for your confidence; it's always a step in the right direction. I just have to continue doing the same thing I did today...and hopefully I can continue to build on my good play."
...The keys to successfully defending Egidijus Mockevicius tonight"Three-quarter fronting him a lot. A lot of times when he ball screens, you have to go where he goes because he slips a lot of them. He doesn't really set screens, so your feet have to be at the same level and go with him when he slips off."
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FRED VANVLEET ON… ...How the Shockers can build on adversity in a close game like tonight"I think this is the first game all year where we battled back-and-forth and eventually made the right plays to win the game. I think in our losses, we didn't. We'd make mental errors here and there, and the other team would be the one making the plays. Every time they made a big play, we'd answer and vice versa. They played extremely well...I think we both showed why we were [voted] number one and two in the preseason. I think we were able to make one or two more plays than they did tonight."
...Making the important pass to Zach Brown for the crucial three-pointer"It's just a trust thing. From day one since Zach and everybody else got here, we wanted to instill confidence. It's not fake when I say that, it's not just words, I really mean that and believe it. I wasn't getting good opportunities at the rim...so I started looking for other guys later. Evan (Wessel) hit a huge (three-pointer). (I) wanted to space the defense out...when you make those plays, it spaced them out just a hair...all those things go together to help the offense."
-Wichita State-
