NORMAL, Ill. – Wichita State's three-year stay atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings ended abruptly Saturday with a 76-62 loss at co-leader Illinois State.

ISU (14-4, 6-0 MVC) shot 54 percent and hit 10-of-22 three-point attempts. The host Redbirds snared the lead midway through the first half and fended off a pair of Shocker runs down the stretch to grab sole possession of first-place for the first time since the 1997-98 season.

WSU (15-4, 5-1 MVC) lost its share of the conference lead for the first time since the end of the 2012-13 season when it dropped a winner-take-all finale at Creighton for the league's regular season crown.

The Shockers still have two-thirds of the conference regular season (12 games) with which to make up ground. The Redbirds makes a return trip to Wichita Feb. 4 (7 p.m. CT, ESPN2).

WSU saw its seven-game road winning streak come to an end in its second-worst shooting performance of the season (34.9 percent). The Shockers hit just 31 percent earlier this season in a loss to nationally-ranked Louisville in the Bahamas.

Darral Willis Jr. and Landry Shamet each flirted with double-doubles for the Shockers. Willis finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Shamet added 14 points, eight boards and a team-high six assists with just one turnover.

Foul trouble hampered Markis McDuffie, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half.

MiKyle McIntosh finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He was one of five Redbirds to finish in double-figures. Deontae Hawkins scored 14, DJ Clayton had 11 and Paris Lee and Keyshawn Evans each with 10.

After ISU hit three triples in the first four minutes to build an 11-5 lead, the Shockers ran off seven straight by working the ball inside to Willis and Shaquille Morris to go up 12-11.

That was the first of eight lead changes in less than eight minutes. Conner Frankamp knocked down a pair of three-point looks to put the Shockers in front by scores of 15-13 and 20-18.

ISU had an answer for each Shocker basket. Willis and Nurger knocked down jumpers, with the latter giving WSU its last lead of the night, 24-22 with 7:33 to play in the half.

The Redbirds launched an 11-1 run, while the Shockers limped into halftime by missing 10 of their last 11 shots.

Down nine at the break, 36-27, WSU showed signs of life early in the second half with an 8-1 run out of the locker room. McDuffie -- who saw just seven first half minutes while battling foul trouble -- scored all eight of those points to make it a two-point game, 37-35, with 18 minutes still to play.

The Shockers sliced the Redbird lead to a single point at the 13:36-mark on back-to-back Zach Brown jumpers. His three made it 43-42.

ISU answered again by scoring the next six in what eventually snowballed into an 11-2 run. Hawkins' three gave the Redbirds their first double-digit lead, 54-44.

WSU made one last push, getting it to 56-53 with 6:14 remaining when Shamet scored five straight and Willis knocked down a jumper, but the Redbirds connected on each of their next three attempts from beyond the arc. Triples from Lee, Hawkins and McIntosh over a span of less than two minutes upped the lead back to 10, and it stayed in double-digits the rest of the way.

Up Next
Wichita State hits the road again on Tuesday when the Shockers make their way to Evansville. The Shockers and Purple Aces tip off at 8 p.m. CDT on CBS Sports Network.

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