Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Recaps

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Fred VanVleet scored 22 points and No. 2 Wichita State stayed perfect with an 83-69 win over Indiana State in the championship bout of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Tekele Cotton had 20 points and Ron Baker gave 14 for the Shockers (34-0), who tied the 1990-91 UNLV squad for the longest winning streak to begin a campaign and have won their past nine games by double digits.

Justin Gant and Manny Arop each had 18 points for the Sycamores (23-10), who had entered the conference tournament having dropped three straight, but then won their next two to get to the final.

Holding a 10-point lead to start the second half, the Shockers got a layup from VanVleet and three-point play by Baker to start the second half.

Indiana State rallied and made it a four-point game, and a pair of free throws from Jake Odum near the midway mark of the half cut the deficit to 55-50.

Wichita State, though, scored the next 13 points, with VanVleet capping the run on consecutive 3-pointers for a 68-50 lead with just under six minutes to play.

The Sycamores didn’t roll over, though, and a 3-pointer from Lucas Eitel made it a 75-67 game with 2 1/2 minutes to play, but the Shockers scored the next six points to put the game out of reach.

Holding a one-point lead early in the first half, Wichita State scored 11 straight points to take a 23-11 win on a Chadrack Lufile layup with 9 1/2 minutes to play.

Arop hit a 3-pointer inside a minute to play for the final points of the first half, and Wichita State took a 39-29 lead into the break.

Game Notes

It was Wichita State’s first tournament title since 1987, and third overall … The Shockers’ last loss came in the Final Four last year against eventual- champion Louisville … Wichita State leads the series with Indiana State, 54-29 … Wichita State shot 45 percent, while Indiana State made 41.1 percent of its attempts.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball