NCAA News Wire
Unbeaten Wichita State rolls in opener
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
ST. LOUIS — Another win, another slice of history for Wichita State.
Forward Cleanthony Early poured in a game-high 23 points Friday night as the top-seeded Shockers became the first men’s team in NCAA history to start a season 35-0 with a 64-37 second-round pounding of overmatched Cal Poly in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional at Scottrade Center.
“It’s really cool that we did it, and it’s really cool that we’re the first ones to do it,” guard Ron Baker said of the winning streak.
Early scored 19 in the first half, when Wichita State ripped off spurts of 14-0 and 9-0 to establish a 32-13 halftime lead.
The No. 16-seeded Mustangs (14-20), who eliminated Texas Southern 81-69 Wednesday night in the first round with their second-best offensive game of the season, found out quickly that scoring on the Shockers would be much tougher.
Forward Chris Eversley canned a 3-pointer to start the scoring, but Cal Poly made just three other shots in the first half. It finished 4-of-28 from the field and was 2-of-23 at one stage, finishing the night 12-of-58.
“It seems like Wichita State gets better defensively as the shot clock winds down,” Eversley said. “You can see why they’re unbeaten.”
Reserve guard Malik Love tallied nine points to pace the Mustangs, who were playing in their first NCAA tourney.
Wichita State canned 46 percent of its field goal attempts for the game and did its usual fine job on the boards, owning a 46-34 advantage.
The Shockers will meet No. 8 Kentucky or No. 9 Kansas State Sunday in the third round.
NOTES: Cal Poly’s Big West Conference tournament championship-game win over Cal State Northridge marked the first time in 17 games that the Mustangs overcame a halftime deficit. … Wichita State became the first Missouri Valley Conference team to earn a No. 1 seed since Larry Bird’s Indiana State did so in 1978-79. … Cal Poly entered the NCAA Tournament having logged 25,779 miles for its road games, thanks to trips to Delaware and Pittsburgh, as well as a conference game at Hawaii. … Only three Shocker opponents have made 50 percent or more of their field-goal attempts this season.
