PEORIA, Ill. – Wichita State overcame a sluggish first half to down upset-minded Bradley Sunday afternoon, 64-49, at Carver Arena.
 
Landry Shamet scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting and dealt out six assists. Conner Frankamp scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with a career-high six rebounds and three steals. Both players went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
 
Markis McDuffie finished with nine points and pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds (most by a Shocker in nearly two years).
 
A high-energy performance from Rashard Kelly yielded seven points, five rebounds and three steals.
 
Wichita State (19-4, 9-1 MVC) has now won 15 straight meetings vs. Bradley (8-15, 3-7), tying a program record for consecutive wins over an MVC opponent. WSU won 15-in-a-row against Drake from 1979-85.
 
The Shockers had more turnovers (13) than field goals (8) in the first half but recovered to shoot 15-of-25 (.600) over the final 20 minutes. After trailing by eight points with a minute to play in the first, the Shockers outscored the Braves 47-24 the rest of the way.
 
Darrell Brown led the Braves with 18 points as no other Brave had more than six.
 
WSU scored 100 in a New Year's Day win over Bradley and seemed on its way to a similar performance in the early minutes of Sunday's rematch.
 
The Shockers moved the ball well in the first segment, working it inside for easy baskets. Shamet hit a three, then answered a Bradley bucket with a transition layup for an 11-6 lead.
 
Up a point, WSU held Bradley scoreless for a stretch of nearly six minutes midway through the half but succeeded in adding just two more points to its lead. The Shockers missed 8-of-9 from the field during that time, too often settling for jumpers against the Braves' zone defense.
 
Nate Kennell scored at the 7:45-mark to pull Bradley back to within 13-12.
 
Frankamp nailed a baseline jumper to stretch the lead back to 15-12 at the 6:30-mark, but WSU wouldn't score again for over three minutes.
 
Bradley had a miserable night from three (4-of-19, .211) but did damage over one key stretch, knocking down back-to-back-to-back triples to go up 21-15 with just over five minutes left in the first period.
 
The Bradley lead was five points when Shamet ended a six-minute field goal drought with a three-point play to cut the lead to 25-20 at the half.

The Shockers' 20-point first half was their lowest of the conference season and just the second time in 10 MVC games that they've failed to reach 30 before the midway point. WSU scored 27 in the first half at Illinois State in mid-January.
 
The Shockers committed their 16^th turnover at the 17:25 mark of the second half – topping their previous season high – but they committed just two more the rest of the way.
 
Kelly hit a free throw to cut the lead to four, then immediately stole the inbounds pass, pivoted and dunked to slice the margin to 29-27. Moments later, Frankamp snaked his way to the basket for a layup to tie the game with 16:06 to play.
 
Rauno Nurger scored inside to put the Shockers in front, and Shamet hit a three to cap a 10-0 run.
 
WSU led 40-38 with 11:06 to play when Frankamp drove for a layup and Shamet his another three to cue an 11-0 spurt. Frankamp's deep three made it a 13-point Shocker lead, 51-38, with 7:40 remaining.
 
Bradley would get within eight with just under 6:00 left, but Frankamp connected again from deep, and Willis dunked to restore order.
 
WSU overcame a halftime deficit to win for the third time this year. All three wins have come on the road. The Shockers trailed 39-37 against Oklahoma at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Dec. 10 but rallied for a 76-73 victory. They overcame a 33-30 deficit earlier this month at Evansville for an 82-65 win.
 
Up Next:
The Shockers travel to Drake (7-15, 5-5 MVC) on Wednesday night for 6:05 p.m. CT tip on Cox Channel Kansas.


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