Morris Udeze scored 11 of his 15 points after halftime and Wichita State gradually pulled away for a 65-51 victory over Tarleton State on Tuesday evening at Charles Koch Arena.
 
The Shockers (3-0) played without preseason AAC player of the year Tyson Etienne, who was out due to illness, but found enough offense to pull away. They hit 9-of-21 from three (.429) and converted 18-of-23 free throws.
 
WSU held Tarleton (0-3) to 38.3 percent from the field, including 3-of-16 from three, and forced 20 turnovers – most by a WSU defense since forcing 23 in an overtime win at UConn on Jan. 12, 2020.
 
Udeze made 5-of-8 shots and all five free throw tries. He also blocked two shots and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
 
Dexter Dennis added 13 points on 3-of-4 three-point shooting and moved into the top-10 on WSU's career triples chart (146), passing Paul Guffrovich (144 from 1987-91).
 
Ricky Council IV chipped in 12 points and Qua Grant finished with eight points, four assists and three steals.
 
Montre Gipson played all 40 minutes and was the lone Texan in double-figures with 16 points.
 
It was the third straight road game for Tarleton, which is in the second of a four-year transition from Division II and is led by former Texas A&M and Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie. The Texans had been competitive in previous road losses at Stanford and Kansas and continued that trend against the Shockers, leading 20-17 with 5:15 remaining in the first half.
 
Over the next five minutes, WSU harassed Tarleton into eight turnovers and took control with a 12-0 run. Council threw down a ferocious reverse dunk off a Grant steal and Dennis followed with a corner three.
 
Tarleton finished the half with 14 giveaways – five of them on shot clock violations – and the Shockers went into the locker room up 29-22.
 
WSU shot over 52 percent in the second half and added to its cushion. Udeze (11 points) and Dennis (10) accounted for more than half of the Shockers' 36 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
 
Grant's triple made it a 46-36 game near the midway point. On the next possession, Monzy Jackson grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Udeze underneath for a three-point play.
 
Dennis sank his third three of the night, and Kenny Pohto threw down a dunk as the Shockers took their largest lead of the night, 63-47, with 1:14 left.
 
It was a welcome change for WSU, which never led by more than seven points in wins over Jacksonville State and South Alabama last week.
 

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NOTABLE:
 
WSU extended its home winning streak to 12 games – tied for the 12^th-longest in program history.
 
The Shockers improved to 3-0 for the seventh time in 10 seasons.
 
The win gave Isaac Brown (19-6, .760 in parts of two seasons) the best 25-game start by a Shocker head coach, ahead of Gary Thompson (18-7 in 1964-65).
 
Etienne missed his first game in three seasons as a Shocker. He had appeared in 54-straight previously.
 
In his absence, Council made his second consecutive start and Chaunce Jenkins saw his first action of the season. The second-time freshman contributed five points, two assists, two steals and drew a charge.
 

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UP NEXT:
 
The Shockers will spend the weekend in Las Vegas as part of the Roman Main Event, beginning Friday against Arizona (9 p.m. CT, ESPNU). They'll meet either No. 6 Michigan or UNLV on Sunday. The championship game is slated for 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN and the third-place matchup follows at 11 p.m. CT on ESPN2.