WICHITA, Kan. -- Grant Sherfield and Jaime Echenique scored 14-points each and (rv/rv) Wichita State rode a fast start to a 73-63 win over (rv/25) VCU on Saturday afternoon at a sold-out Charles Koch Arena.
 
WSU (10-1) knocked off its second USA Today Coaches Poll Top-25 opponent in three weeks, having previously upset No. 25 Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Dec. 8.
 
The Shockers won their 10^th-straight at home and ended VCU's seven-game road winning streak (tied for the nation's second-longest coming into the day).
 
Echenique scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half for the Shockers, who led 18-6 less than five-minutes into the game and maintained a 42-30 halftime cushion. The big man was effective in just 14 minutes, hitting 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-7 at the foul line to go with six rebounds and a season-high three blocks.
 
Sherfield was 4-of-7 from the field and 6-of-8 at the stripe.
 
Jamarius Burton collected 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes of action, Tyson Etienne (10 points) nailed 2-of-5 threes, Erik Stevenson (eight points) forced a career-high five steals, and Morris Udeze piled on seven points and seven rebounds.
 
The Shockers showed the type of poise and toughness that was absent during the early parts of last season. An inexperienced WSU squad lost 70-54 at VCU on Dec. 22, 2018 but turned the tables 12 months later in the return game.
 
WSU forced 18 VCU turnovers and held the Rams to 37.7 percent from the field (4-of-19 from distance).
 
The Shockers shot 42.4 percent (5-of-14 from deep) and outrebounded VCU 42-37, helped by 16 offensive rebounds.
 
In building their 12-point halftime cushion, the Shockers outscored the Rams 12-0 in points off turnovers and 24-10 in the paint.
 
VCU had entered the day ranked among the top-10 nationally in turnovers forced and turnover margin, however the Shockers had just one giveaway in the game's first 16 minutes and only five in the first half, compared to VCU's 11.
 
Those totals leveled out after halftime, but the Shockers maintained a double-digit lead for all but 63 seconds of the second half. VCU cut an 18-point deficit to nine (69-60) with 2:17 remaining but made no further headway.
 

---

NOTABLE:

• The Shockers have won four-straight. The last three have come against teams that were either ranked or receiving votes in a major national poll.
• It was VCU's first visit since a 2011 Bracket Busters showdown between the Final Four-bound Rams and the NIT Champion Shockers. WSU has since won 56 of its last 57 non-conference games at Charles Koch Arena (including Saturday's result). The only loss came to Louisiana Tech in the 2018-19 season opener.
• WSU is 67-18 in December games under Marshall.
• The win ties the all-time series with VCU at 3-3 (2-3 Marshall Era).
• WSU is 8-3 against A-10 teams over the last nine seasons.
• Marshall's 512^th career win moved him into a tie for 93^rd on the all-time Division I wins list with Don DeVoe, who coached at Florida, Navy, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Wyoming between 1971 and 2004.

 

---

UP NEXT:

• Wichita State enjoys an eight-day break from competition before hosting Abilene Christian on Dec. 29 (2 p.m. CT, YurView Kansas).
• It's the first meeting in the series since January, 1986. Four of the five meetings (all Shocker home victories) came during the Gene Smithson Era.
• ACU (27-7) won the 2019 Southland Conference Tournament and became just the fourth school in the last two decades to qualify for an NCAA Tournament within its first two years of eligibility, joining North Dakota State (2009), Florida Gulf Coast (2013) and Northern Kentucky (2017).