NCAA News Wire
Wichita State 80, Evansville 58
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 — The Shocker Invitational, a.k.a. the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, got underway Friday with a predictable result.
No. 2-ranked Wichita State set a single-game conference tournament record with 11 blocked shots as it notched its third double-figure win of the season over Evansville, an 80-58 decision in the quarterfinals at Scottrade Center.
Forward Cleanthony Early and guard Ron Baker each scored 17 points to lead the top-seeded Shockers (32-0), who will play either No. 4 Missouri State or fifth-seeded Illinois State in Saturday’s first semifinal.
Guard Tekele Cotton and reserve center Chadrack Lufile added 11 points apiece, while starting center Kadeem Coleby rejected a career-high six shots.
Guard D.J. Balentine pumped in a game-high 31 points for the ninth-seeded Purple Aces (14-19), who were playing about 16 hours after eliminating Drake in Thursday night’s tournament opener. Balentine sank 7-of-14 3-pointers.
Center Egidijus Mockevicius contributed an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double, but no one else for Evansville could add much offensively.
Early’s four-point play with 7:57 left in the first half gave Wichita State the lead for good at 23-20. After a turnover, Wichita State scored on seven straight possessions to open up a 39-27 lead with 3:05 remaining. Guard Fred VanVleet capped the 20-7 run with a fast-break layup.
Balentine drew the Aces within 44-36 early in the second half with a 3-pointer, but the Shockers rattled off 12 straight points to end the game’s competitive phase. VanVleet’s 4-point play at the 14:24 mark gave Wichita State its first 20-point lead.
The rest of the game was a foul-plagued slog to the final horn. The teams combined for 23 fouls and 27 free throws in the second half.
NOTES: Wichita State G Fred VanVleet and G Ron Baker, along with F Cleanthony Early, became the first trio from the same team to earn first-team All-MVC honors since 1973. … Evansville C Egidijus Mockevicius led the MVC with a 63.7 percent field-goal percentage, good for seventh in Division I. It’s the second-highest single-season mark in school history. … This was only the second time the Shockers and Purple Aces have ever met in the MVC tourney. Evansville won 79-71 on Feb. 27, 1999, the only season in which it won the MVC regular-season title.
