No. 9 Wichita State easily beats Emporia State 76-54
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Emporia State coach Shaun Vandiver told his team that No. 9 Wichita State was going to play with a chip on its shoulder after its first November loss since 2011.
Ron Baker had 23 points and the Shockers built a 25-point halftime lead to cruise past NCAA Division II Emporia State 76-54 on Saturday, bouncing back from a 77-67 loss at Tulsa on Tuesday.
''Today was a game to get out flow back, our swagger back,'' Baker said.
Landry Shamet and Ty Taylor had nine points each for the Shockers (2-1), playing without senior point guard Fred VanVleet, who has hamstring and ankle injuries.
That made a 38-13 halftime lead more pleasing for the Shockers.
''Losing Fred is a big piece to our offense,'' center Anton Grady said. ''A big part of what we do is Fred moving, Fred creating things.''
Wichita State's defense created the most havoc in the first half, holding the Hornets without a basket for nearly eight minutes in one stretch and allowing the Shockers to take control.
Anton Grady had a three-point play, Baker had a fast-break layup and Taylor hit a 3-point shot in a 64-second span, pushing the Shockers' lead to 13-4 with 13:12 remaining in the half.
Taylor hit another 3-pointer and Baker added a 3-pointer as the lead continued to grow. Two free throws from Zach Brown made it 25-6 Shockers before Emporia State finally made another basket.
''They just had too much size, length and strength on us,'' Vandiver said. ''It was overwhelming for us in the first half.''
A reverse layup from Shamet made it 30-10 Shockers and they led 38-13 at halftime on 57.1 percent shooting.
''I thought we had a really good flow in the first half,'' Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. ''We were running, executing in transition.''
Emporia State had better stretches in the second half. Charles McKinney had a put-back slam and Terrence Sardin made a layup to give the Hornets consecutive baskets for the first time in the game, cutting Wichita State's lead to 48-22. Joshua Oswald led Emporia State (0-2) with 16 points and McKinney finished with 10.
Oswald had eight points in a 15-3 Emporia State run. The last two came on a layup that narrowed the Shockers' lead to 55-38 with 8:37 to play.
Marshall instructed his team to call timeout, a rare move for him before the game's closing minutes.
''We were just stagnant,'' Marshall said.
Two baskets from Bush Wamukota extended the Wichita State lead to 65-44. The Shockers would not lead by less than 20 points again.
Baker was almost as happy to have a day off practice as he was about the victory.
''We didn't respond too well in the first practice after Tulsa,'' he said. ''The coaches challenged us. And the last two practices were really tough. It's part of it.''
NO VANVLEET
VanVleet, the preseason Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, entered the season with a nagging hamstring injury but played in the first two games. In an opening win against Charleston Southern, he played just three minutes before leaving the game with a right ankle injury. A visibly slowed VanVleet played 30 minutes in the loss at Tulsa, going 3 of 10 from the floor.
Wichita State wanted VanVleet to rest before the AdvoCare Invitational, which starts Thursday in Orlando, Florida. The Shockers will play three games in four days.
TIP-INS
Emporia State: The Hornets faced Wichita State for the 70th time but only the second time since 1954. ... Lost an exhibition 80-42 at Kansas State on Oct. 30. ... Terrence Moore, who played at nearby Wichita Heights High School, had nine points.
Wichita State: Marshall won his 400th game as a head coach. ... The Shockers have still not lost consecutive games since February, 2013. ... The Shockers have won 34 straight home games and are 90-8 at home since the start of the 2009-10 season.
UP NEXT
Emporia State hosts Northwestern Oklahoma on Tuesday.
Wichita State plays Southern California Thursday in the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando.
