Postgame Quotes |  Notes |  Press Conference

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – No. 21/22 Wichita State will play in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game for the first time since 2014 after dispatching No. 6 seed Missouri State, 78-63, in Saturday's semifinals.
 
WSU (29-4) advances to the championship round for the seventh time in school history and will look to collects its fourth title.
 
The second-seeded Shockers meet No. 1 seed Illinois State, Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT on CBS.
 
The teams split their regular season series, while going a perfect 36-0 against the other eight schools. In addition to bragging rights, the winner of the rubber match also punches a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Shaquille Morris scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds.



Conner Frankamp hit a career-high six three-pointers – most ever by a WSU player in an MVC Tournament game --  on 12 attempts and matched his personal-best with 18 points. Markis McDuffie added 15 points and seven boards while going a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown.
 
WSU made 10-of-20 three-pointers as a team and was near-perfect at the foul line, converting 20-of-21 attempts (.952).
 
After twice being outrebounded during the regular season, WSU turned the tables on the Bears, winning the battle of the boards, 39-30.
 
Jarred Dixon paced Missouri State (17-16) with 20 points and Alize Johnson added 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
 
Gregg Marshall burned his first timeout less than three minutes into the game after watching the Bears jump to a 9-0 lead. WSU trailed 12-2 and 15-5 before launching a 15-2 run to take the lead.
 
Frankamp hit a pair of three-pointers and McDuffie added another to slice the deficit to 17-16. A pair of McDuffie free throws gave WSU the lead for good with 11:06 to go in the first half.
 
Frankamp's third three-pointer of the period, followed by an inside score from Morris extended the Shocker advantage to seven points, 30-23, at the 5:30-mark. A Rauno Nurger layup and Rashard Kelly's transition dunk made it 35-25, forcing MSU's Paul Lusk to counter with a timeout of his own with 3:31 left in the first.
 
The move paid off, as WSU went the final 3:09 without scoring. MSU ran off seven-straight points to climb back to within 37-34 at the intermission.
 
Frankamp's nine first-half points led the Shockers, followed by McDuffie's seven. MSU's Jarred Dixon led all players with 11 first-half points.
 
Morris made his presence felt early in the second half, scoring six of the Shockers' first eight points out of the locker room. That made it a 45-37 game with 15:30 remaining.
 
Eight-straight McDuffie points came on two triples and a pull-up 18-footer to make it 55-45 with just under 13 minutes left.
 
WSU claimed a 15-point lead after four-straight Morris free throws and three-minute MSU scoring drought.
 
The Bears refused to go away completely, clawing back to within 65-54 near the six-minute mark, but Frankamp slammed the door with his fourth, fifth and sixth triples over final 6:18.

Also Notable:
*WSU made double-digit three-pointers for the 13^th time this season. Three of those have come against Missouri State.
*Frankamp has recorded three-or-more triples in 11 games this year. He extended his streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 19.
*Landry Shamet extended his own three-point streak to 22 games – five shy of Ron Baker's school record.
*Shaquille Morris added a block to move into a tie for ninth on WSU's career list. His 91 swats are tied with J.T. Durley (2007-11).

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