NORMAL, Ill -- No. 21/22 Wichita State let a 16-point second half lead slip away and suffered its first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season, 58-53, Saturday night at Illinois State.
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Ron Baker and Shaquille Morris scored 10 points each to lead WSU (17-6, 11-1 MVC). Conner Frankamp added eight points, and Fred VanVleet tallied seven points and seven assists.
The Shockers fell for the first time in almost a month-and-a-half, ending a 12-game winning streak that was tied for the fourth-longest in the program's 111-year history. The loss also snapped a 19-game conference winning streak, dating back to Jan. 31, 2015, and marked just the second WSU conference loss in the last three seasons.
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Paris Lee led all scorers, piling up 19 points for host Illinois State (14-11, 8-4 MVC), which defeated a nationally-ranked Valley opponent at Redbird Arena for the first time in the building's 27-year history.
Deontae Hawkins had a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell had 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.
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WSU looked to be well on its way to a sixth-consecutive double-figure road win, leading 33-21 at halftime. ILS hit just two of its first 22 field goal attempts in the first 16 minutes of action. Morris paced the Shockers, knocking down 4-of-6 shots for nine first-half points. He was on the receiving end of two VanVleet alley-oops.
The Shockers hadn't faced a second half deficit at any points in 11 previous MVC games but got a taste of adversity when ILS went on a 20-3 run. Nick Banyard tied the game with a backdoor cut for a dunk, and Hawkins gave the Redbirds their first lead, 44-41, with a three-pointer at the 9:33 mark.
After ILS went up 54-50 with under 4:00 to go, Frankamp's three-pointer pulled the Shockers to within a point at the 3:07 mark, but WSU went scoreless the rest of the way.
WSU will look to bounce back Tuesday when it travels to Des Moines, Iowa to take on Drake (6-18, 1-11 MVC). The game will air locally on Cox Channel Kansas (Cox HD 2022) and on Time Warner SportsChannel 2 for Time Warner Cable subscribers in the Kansas City area. Fans outside of the two viewing areas can catch the live stream via ESPN3.
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-Wichita State-
