Just perfect: Shockers finish 31-0
Wichita State ends season undefeated, but looks for more
The chant started when Ron Baker walked toward the Wichita State bench for the final time, and reached a crescendo when he popped the front of his jersey — No. 31.
As in, 31-0. A perfect regular season. “Undefeated!” the sellout crowd roared in unison. “Undefeated!”
Baker finished with 13 points, Cleanthony Early led the way with 19 and the secondranked Shockers rolled to a 68-45 victory against Missouri State on Saturday, becoming the first team since Saint Joseph’s in 2004 to enter its conference tournament unbeaten.
Wichita State (18-0) will have a first-round bye in the Missouri Valley tournament.
“My teammates told me a couple weeks ago that my number was something special, because that’s how many games we could potentially win,” Baker said. “It’s going to be something I look back on forever.”
Missouri State (19-11, 9-9) had the Shockers in trouble when they met Jan. 11 in Springfield, Mo., but the Bears blew a 19-point second-half lead and lost, 72-69, in overtime.
They never came close to making it a game Saturday, trailing by double-digits in the opening minutes and rarely trimming the lead to fewer than 20 points in the second half.
The result is the best start since UNLV began 34-0 and lost in the 1991 national title game. Wichita State is also off to the best start by a Missouri Valley team since Indiana State, led by Larry Bird, won its first 33 games and fell to Michigan State in the 1979 title game.
The Shockers’ previous loss came in the Final Four, too — to eventual champ Louisville last year.
“It seems like the season started about three weeks ago as opposed to months ago,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. “It’s been incredible. They’ve met every challenge.”
Along with fellow seniors Chadrack Lufile, Kadeem Coleby and Nick Wiggins, Early gave Marshall a bear hug when he checked out for the final time in the closing minutes.
“We had no answers,” Missouri State coach Paul Lusk said.
“They defend you, they take care of the basketball and they’re able to come down and pound it inside every time. We struggled to score on the block, we struggled to score everywhere.”
Other Top 25 men
Florida 79, LSU 61: Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points, and top-ranked Florida (27-2, 160 SEC) used a season-high 13 3-pointers to overwhelm visiting LSU (17-11, 8-8).
Oklahoma State 72, Kansas 65: Marcus Smart scored 20 of his 21 points in the second half to help host Oklahoma State (19-10, 7-9 Big 12) upset No. 5 Kansas (22-7, 13-3).
Memphis 72, Louisville 66: Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis (22-7, 11-5 American) ahead, and the 21st-ranked Tigers beat visiting No. 7 Louisville (24-5, 13-3).
Xavier 75, Creighton 69: Justin Martin had 19 points and 16 rebounds as Xavier (20-9, 10-6 Big East) beat visiting No. 9 Creighton (23-5, 13-3).
Virginia Commonwealth 67, Saint Louis 56: Treveon Graham scored 17 points with eight rebounds as VCU (22-7, 10-4 Atlantic 10) handed visiting No. 10 Saint Louis (25-4, 12-2) its second loss of the week.
Connecticut 51, Cincinnati 45: Shabazz Napier scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead host Connecticut (23-6, 11-5 American Athletic) past the Bearcats (24-5, 13-3).
Kansas State 80, Iowa State 73: D. J. Johnson scored 12 points as host Kansas State’s (19-9, 9-6 Big 12) bench made the difference in the upset of No. 15 Iowa State (22-5, 10-5).
Michigan 66, Minnesota 56: Nik Stauskas scored 21 points as host No. 16 Michigan (21-7, 13-3) clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title with a victory against Minnesota (18-12, 7-10).
South Carolina 72, Kentucky 67: Brenton Williams led South Carolina (11-18, 4-12 SEC) with 24 points as the Gamecocks stunned visiting No. 17 Kentucky (21-8, 11-5).
Illinois 53, Michigan State 46: Tracy Abrams scored 12 points, leading Illinois (17-12, 6-10 Big Ten) past host No. 18 Michigan State (22-7, 11-5).
SMU 70, UCF 55: Markus Kennedy scored 18 points as host No. 23 SMU (23-6, 12-4 American Athletic) beat Central Florida (11-16, 3-13).
Oklahoma 77, Texas 65: Isaiah Cousins scored a career-high 24 points and Oklahoma (21-8, 10-6 Big 12) defeated visiting No. 24 Texas (21-8, 10-6).
Women’s Top 25
Connecticut 72, Rutgers 35: Breanna Stewart and Bria Hartley each scored 20 points to help No. 1 Connecticut (30-0, 170 American) beat visiting No. 24 Rutgers (21-7, 12-5).
Louisville 75, Cincinnati 51: Tia Gibbs scored 17 points and No. 3 Louisville (28-2, 16-1 American) pulled away from host Cincinnati (12-16, 5-12).
Oklahoma State 67, Kansas State 62: Tiffany Bias scored 17 points in her final home game as host No. 15 Oklahoma State (226, 11-6 Big 12) defeated Kansas State (11-17, 5-12).
Washington 70, California 65: Kelsey Plum scored 22 points, with 6 rebounds and 6 steals to lead visiting Washington (17-12, 10-8 Pac-12) to an upset of No. 18 California (21-8, 13-5).
Gonzaga 81, Pacific 77: Sunny Greinacher scored a career-high 24 points as No. 22 Gonzaga (26-4, 16-2 West Coast) beat visiting Pacific (17-11, 12-6).
Middle Tennessee 68, UAB 58: Ebony Rowe scored nine points in a late 12-0 run as No. 23 Middle Tennessee (25-4, 141) rallied to defeat visiting Alabama-Birmingham (15-12, 7-7).