PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Wichita State's string of lopsided victories continued Wednesday afternoon with an 82-47 victory over LSU in quarterfinal action at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Shockers raced to leads of 11-0 and 30-9 against the overmatched Tigers (4-1) and enjoyed their largest halftime advantage of the season (27 points) at 46-19. A 10-0 run early in the second half pushed the score to 61-29 with 11:16 remaining in the game.
No Shocker played more than 24 minutes in the win – a potential advantage as the teams prepare for their second of three games in three days on Thanksgiving Thursday. WSU (5-0) will take on the winner of No. 10 Louisville and Old Dominion in the semifinal round. The 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. ET) tip will air nationally on ESPN.
Markis McDuffie scored 13 of his game-high 15 points before halftime, and
Landry Shamet added 12.
Conner Frankamp finished with eight points and dished out seven assists without a turnover.
Antonio Blakeney and Duop Reath – two of LSU's top scoring threats – combined for just two first-half points before heating up down the stretch. Blakeney finished with a team-high 12 points to go with seven rebounds, and Reath chipped in 11.
The WSU defense held LSU to just 28.1 percent from the field, including 4-of-25 from deep.
The Shockers continued their torrid three-point shooting. After hitting 15-of-24 in Sunday's win over Maryland Eastern Shore, they knocked down 9-of-18 against LSU.
WSU collected a season-high 55 rebounds – 19 more than LSU.
Shaquille Morris finished with a team-high six boards, and five other Shockers tallied five-each.
Notes:
*The Shockers have out-rebounded their first five opponents by an average of 16.0 rebounds per game.
* WSU has trailed for just 51 total seconds through its first five contests...
* The Shockers used runs of 11-0, 15-0 and 10-0 to put away LSU. They now have 12 double-digit scoring runs on the season.
*WSU extended its string of 80-point games. This year's Shockers are the first since 1984-85 to do it in four straight games. The 1984-85 group also owns the school record with 12-straight 80-point games.
*WSU has won five straight against LSU and leads the all-time series 5-1.
Gregg Marshall is 7-4 against SEC schools while coaching the Shockers.
