FT. COLLINS, Colo. –The faces may change, but not the expressions. Wichita State left another road venue all smiles after defeating Colorado State, 82-67, in front of 6,918 rowdy fans at Moby Arena.
 
The nation's best road team over the last seven seasons, WSU (7-2) improved to 58-13 in enemy territory over that span and upped its nation-best winning percentage to .817.
 
This despite playing lineup with very little experience in hostile environments. The first-unit of Darral Willis Jr., Markis McDuffie, Rauno Nurger, Daishon Smith and Landry Shamet had combined for just 17 starts coming into the day, and none of the five players had ever started a true road game.
 
Yet the young Shockers passed the test with flying colors.
 
WSU forced CSU (6-2) into 13 second-half turnovers and 19 overall and turned them into 25 second-chance points. On offense, the Shockers hit big basket after big basket versus a defense not accustomed to surrendering them.
 
Against a CSU team that previously led the Mountain West in scoring defense (61.7), field goal percentage defense (.357) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.250), the Shockers scored 82 points while hitting 13-of-27 from deep (.481). WSU's 46.7 percent from the field was the highest by a CSU opponent this year.
 
Veterans Zach Brown and Shaquille Morris pitched in with big games off the bench. Brown scored nine of his team-high 16 points in the final eight minutes to help the Shockers pull away, and Morris collected a team-best six rebounds to go with 13 points.
 
McDuffie scored 12 points his first start of the season (and second of his career), while playing a career-high 33 minutes. Shamet chipped in 11 points in 34 minutes while hitting 3-of-6 from deep. Smith led the team with four steals and four assists to go with nine points. Willis – in his first career start – battled foul trouble but finished with six points and four rebounds.
 
Prentiss Nixon scored 20 points and knocked down 5-of-6 from three to lead CSU (6-2, 5-1 at home). The Rams lost a non-conference game on their home floor for only the fifth time in five seasons under head coach Larry Eustachy.
 
J.D. Paige scored 17 points with four assists, and Devocio Butler tacked on 12. Emmanuel Omogbo came up a point short of a double-double with nine points and 14 boards.
 
CSU's 67 points came on just 18 field goals. The Rams did much of their damage at the foul line, where they finished 24-of-29.
 
Over the first 32 minutes, CSU outscored WSU 21-2 at the foul line, yet the Shockers still clung to a 60-59 lead with 8:14 to play, thanks to timely shooting from the field.
 
The Shockers' free throw fortunes reversed over the final 7:10 when they went to the line 13 times and connected on 11. Meanwhile, they continued to hit shots.
 
Over a 2-minute stretch, WSU launched a 10-0 run, fueled by Brown's three-pointer and another three-point play. That push upped the Shocker lead to comfortable 70-59 with 6:15 left to go.
 
WSU led for just under 24 minutes total and trailed for nine in a game that featured nine ties and eight lead changes.
 
The Shockers endured a 1-for-10 shooting stretch in the first half that included a four-minute scoring drought, as CSU claimed a 21-17 lead at the 5:29-mark.
 
Shamet put an end to the dry-spell with a triple. Morris and Brown continued the momentum, and the Shockers hit 7 of their next 9 shots. Conner Frankamp's three-pointer at the 3:02-mark gave WSU the lead back, 27-26, and Morris slammed home an offensive rebound moments later.
 
CSU's offense sputtered during a field goal drought of nearly nine minutes, but the Rams kept pace by hitting 12-of-14 free throws.
 
Brown's corner three gave WSU its biggest lead of the half at 34-28, however, a Shocker turnover in transition gave CSU's Devocio Butler enough daylight for a half court bomb from the CSU side of the center stripe (the team's first basket since the 8:58-mark) to cut the lead to 34-31 heading into the intermission.
 
WSU won the rebounding battle 33-31 but seemed to struggle early in each half. CSU eight of the first nine rebounds out of the locker room and the lead changed hands four times in less than five minutes.
 
Over a stretch of less than 10 minutes between 17:12 and 7:59, the Shockers connected on seven three-pointers.
 
Tied at 57 with 8:51 to go, Austin Reaves grabbed an offensive rebound then drifted to the far corner for a triple that gave the Shockers the lead for good.
 
Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge:
Helped by WSU's win, the MVC won five of the nine games on Saturday between the two conferences. The Valley is assured at least a split of the series with one matchup remaining. Southern Illinois can clinch an outright win for the MVC when it travels to face UNLV (Dec. 19).
 
Next Up:
WSU returns home for a Tuesday night matchup with Saint Louis on Cox Channel Extra (7 p.m. CT, Cox HD 2122), then travels to Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena on Saturday to face Oklahoma (3 p.m. CT, ESPN2).