WICHITA, Kan. – Senior Markis McDuffie scored 25 points to lift Wichita State to its fourth-consecutive victory, 77-62, over Tulane, Saturday night, Feb. 9, at Charles Koch Arena.
 
WSU (12-11) moved back over the .500-mark for the first time since early January and improved to 5-6 in American Athletic Conference play, following a 1-6 start. Wichita State's four-game winning streak is a season-best. The Shockers are 2-0 all-time against Tulane. The teams will meet again Mar. 9 in the regular season finale in New Orleans.
 
McDuffie – The American's leading scorer -- notched his 10th 20-point game of the season, tying Cleanthony Early for the Marshall Era's single-season record. He was 8-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-7 from distance, and added a team-high eight rebounds. McDuffie also jumped Gus Santos for 23rd on the career-scoring chart. He has 1,288 points.
 
Erik Stevenson hit three triples on his way to 13 points, and Samajae Haynes-Jones tacked on 10 points.  Jamarius Burton and Jaime Echenique added nine-each. Echenique had seven rebounds and recorded a block for the seventh-straight game.
 
Connor Crabtree and Caleb Daniels had 17-each for Tulane (4-18, 0-10), which dropped its 12th straight game.
 
The teams were tied at 12 with 12:50 to play in the first half, but WSU held Tulane without a field goal for nearly five minutes and used a 10-2 push to take control.
 
McDuffie drained a three, then turned a steal into a breakaway dunk. His back-to-back threes ballooned the Shocker lead to 30-19 with just under eight minutes to go in the opening stanza.
 
The teams traded hoops over the remainder of the frame. Burton scored his ninth point of the half on a free throw to make it a 41-35 lead at the intermission.
 
McDuffie scored 18 first-half points on 6-of-9 shooting. He was 3-of-4 from deep and moved into sole possession of 13th on WSU's career three-point field goal chart with 132 (passing Rob Kampman for the most by a non-guard).
 
Wichita State opened the second-half with a 9-0 run, holding Tulane without a point until the 14-minute mark. Echenique's three-point play made it a 50-35 cushion with 14:50 to go.
 
Stevenson stretched the lead to 20 with back-to-back threes for a 58-48 margin with 12 minutes to play, and the Green Wave would get no closer than eight the remainder of the contest, sealing the victory for the Shockers. 
  
Wichita State matched a season-high with eight steals and turned 17 Tulane turnovers into 15 points in the contest. The Shockers also outrebounded the Green Wave, 35-33, and outscored the visitors in the paint, 30-12. 

NOTABLE:
***The Shockers are 80-6 at Charles Koch Arena over the last six seasons.
***WSU has won nine-straight February games, dating back to last year. It was their nation-best 40th February win since 2014 (40-3).
***Gregg Marshall moved to within eight wins of 500 for his career (492-192) and within two of 300 at WSU.
 
UP NEXT:
***The Shockers have a full week off before next Sunday's trip to No. 25 Cincinnati.
***The game will air on ESPN.
***Cincinnati (20-3, 9-1) is tied for first-place in The American standings.
***UC won the first meeting on Jan. 19 in Wichita.
***A year ago, WSU ended the Bearcat's nation-best 39-game home court winning streak.
***This will be the Shockers' first trip to newly-renovated FifthThird Arena.