WICHITA, Kan.  – Wichita State led wire-to-wire to take an 81-62 win against Abilene Christian on day one of the 2016 Winter Classic on the WSU campus in front of 1,470 Charles Koch Arena fans.

Jeliah Preston and Rangie Bessard scored 21 and 18 points respectively to lead the Shockers. WSU out-shot ACU 56.4 to 40 percent for the game. WSU forced 21 ACU turnovers, but trailed on the boards, 32-30.

WSU's shooting transferred onto the arc where they made 8-of-15 shots from three-point range for 53.3 percent.

Wichita State won the first quarter 30-6, and didn't look back to improve to 4-5 overall as ACU fell to 4-6.

WSU opened the third quarter on a 16-3 run to increase WSU's lead to 62-28, with the help of 13 points in the quarter from Preston. WSU went on to out-score ACU 22-19 in the third quarter to take a 71-44 lead into the fourth.

Scoring slowed for WSU in the fourth as ACU cut the lead to 21 with a 8-2 run to open the quarter, cutting the lead to 73-52, but the Shockers held on down the stretch for the win.

Wichita State jumped out to a 12-2 lead after the tip to force an Abilene Christian timeout at the 5:16 minute mark after a Mike layup.  Six of the first 12 points came from Bessard.

After a backdoor layup by ACU out of the timeout, WSU went on a 5-0 run to go up 17-4 before increasing the lead to 25-4 after back-to-back baskets by Jeliah Preston and a layup by Tompkins at 1:59. WSU closed the half on a 5-0 run to take a 30-6 first-quarter lead.

In the second quarter, the Shockers extended the lead to as much as 28 at the 8:43 mark. Bessard's bucket at the end of the second quarter gave WSU a 24-point halftime lead, 49-25, and tied the quarter at 19-19.

For the half, WSU out-shot the Wildcats, 60.6 percent (20-33) to 32 percent (8-25), while making the 20 baskets on 13 assists which included six from Mike. Bessard's 16 points in the first two quarters led all scorers. ACU was led by Shelstead's eight points.

In the tournament's opening game, Murray State defeated Incarnate Word, 72-68 on Friday afternoon. The Racers held off a late Cardinal charge to win behind four double-figure scorers. LeAsia Wright led the Racers with 20 points and also on the glass with nine boards. Kyra Gulledge also had nine boards. UIW's Celia Garcia Paunero had 26 points to lead the Cardinals.
Murray State won the first and third quarters, 16-12 and 25-17, respectively, while UIW won the second and fourth quarters, 19-18 and 20-13.

The tournament continues Saturday with Abilene Christian facing off against Murray State at 11 a.m., followed by the Shockers and Incarnate Word at 2 p.m.