Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Recaps

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Fred VanVleet scored 13 points to lead No. 8 Wichita State over Southern Illinois 56-45 in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday.

Tekele Cotton added 12 points and Ron Baker scored 10 for the top-seeded Shockers (28-3), who will take on Illinois State in the semifinal round on Saturday.

Jalen Pendleton scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Salukis (12-21), who gave the Shockers a run for their money in the early going, but failed to pull off the upset.

Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said his team didn’t play well.

“I thought (Salukis coach Barry Hinson) had a good game plan,” he said. “We defended very well. Just glad to move on.”

The Shockers fell behind early, but rallied late in the first half to grab control. Behind 15-11 after a Pendleton layup just about 12 minutes into the game, Wichita State ended the half by scoring 17 of the final 22 points to take control.

Cotton’s three-pointer at the 6:10 mark put the Shockers ahead and Baker’s trey with 1:18 remaining extended the lead to 10 points, 28-18, before going into the locker room with a 28-20 edge.

Cotton scored nine points during the run.

Wichita State continued to hold control in the second half, leading by as many as 17 points, 54-37, after a Zach Brown layup with 3:15 left.

Game Notes

Southern Illinois lost six of its last eight games this season … Wichita State went 17-1 in the MVC regular season … Southern Illinois committed 18 turnovers that turned into 17 points for Wichita State … The Shockers outscored the Salukis 30-16 in the paint … The Shockers shot 41.7 percent from the floor for the game, while Southern Illinois shot only 34 percent.

Final Score: Illinois State 71, Evansville 67

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Deontae Hawkins had 17 points and seven rebounds and Illinois State beat Evansville 71-67 in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday.

The fourth-seeded Redbirds (20-11) held on down the stretch, advancing to face top-seeded Wichita State in the semifinals on Saturday.

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell added 13 points and Daishon Knight scored 12 for Illinois State, which took the lead for good on Reggie Lynch’s layup with 3:14 remaining in the game.

Hawkins made a 3-pointer on the next trip down the court for the Redbirds to stretch the lead to four and it never was lower than two the rest of the way.

Evansville (19-12) had a 37-31 lead at halftime but shot under 30 percent over the last 20 minutes. The fifth-seeded Purple Aces were led by D.J. Balentine, who scored 17. Egidijus Mockevicius added 14 points in the loss.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball