David Kyles scored 19 points, J.T. Durley added 16 and Wichita State ran away from host Chaminade 79-58 Tuesday in the loser's bracket of the Maui Invitational.
Wichita State (2-1) dominated at the start and never let the Division II Silverswords (3-2) climb all the way back, moving into the fifth-place game against Virginia. The Shockers had a 43-23 rebounding advantage and made 11 3-pointers while shooting 51 percent.
Toure Murry added 11 points for Wichita State, which had 21 assists on 33 field goals.
Chaminade was doomed by a shoddy start and a poor-shooting first half to drop to the bottom of the loser's bracket again. The Silverswords were 10 for 22 on 3-pointers for the game, but hit just 8 of 25 shots in falling behind by 20 points in the first half.
Steven Bennett and Chris Curtis had 13 points each for Chaminade.
Wichita State put up a good fight against Connecticut in the opener, leading late behind Kyles' big second half. The Shockers couldn't finish it off, unable to stop prolific Huskies guard Kemba Walker, who scored 29 of his 31 points in the half in UConn's 83-79 win.
Chaminade also had a moral-victory loss in the first round, kindling hopes of another monumental upset by leading No. 2 Michigan State well into the second half. The Silverswords accomplished the ultimate David-takes-down-Goliath in 1982, beating top-ranked Virginia on Oahu, but couldn't pull out another stunner, fading down the stretch as the athletic Spartans pulled away for an 82-74 win.
Wichita State was ready to quash any hope of another, although smaller, upset early on. The Shockers hounded the Silverswords defensively, holding them without a field goal for 4:33, and seemed to hit everything they threw at the rim, opening with a 19-4 lead.
Chaminade and its slew of shooters tried to fire their way back, closing within 23-15 on three straight 3-pointers, but Wichita State hit the gas again and pushed the lead to 37-22 by halftime.
It got worse for the Silverswords late in the half, when reserve guard Chandler Pearson went to the bench and traded one basketball shoe for a black boot. He played through a stress fracture in his left foot in the opener against UConn, but spent the second half in street clothes, leaving Chaminade without one of its best shooters.
The Silverswords managed to make a run even without Pearson, pulling within 51-43 on two 3-pointers each by Dominique Cooks and Curtis, but it turned out to be their last gasp.
The Shockers ground out the win from there, their lead-stretching run punctuated by Gabe Blair's rim-bending rebound slam that made it 67-51 with about 5 minutes left.
