Box Score
Dan Muller Interview | Tony Wills Interview
WICHITA, Kansas – After breaking an 18-18 tie and building a 13-point halftime lead, the Wichita State men's basketball team outscored Illinois State, 22-2, to start the second half and put the game out of reach, as the Shockers beat the Redbirds, 86-45, Saturday night at Charles Koch Arena to hand ISU its first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season.
ISU (19-5, 11-1 MVC) saw its 12-game overall winning streak and program-best 11-game MVC winning streak come to an end, as WSU (21-4, 10-1 MVC) moved into a tie with Illinois State for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. The teams split their regular-season series, with the home team winning each time. Phil Fayne scored a team-high nine points, while Daouda "David" Ndiaye collected eight rebounds. Conner Frankamp led Wichita State with 16 points.
Wichita State opened up a 5-0 lead before Fayne scored a fastbreak layup followed by a Tony Wills runner to pull Illinois State within one point. After Wichita State made the score 9-4, Paris Lee netted a lay-in, and Deontae Hawkins buried a 3-pointer to tie the game, 9-9, with 12:09 remaining. Illinois State then took a 13-12 lead on an offensive rebound put-back by Wills at the 11:08 mark.
The Shockers answered with a 7-0 run to take an 18-13 advantage before DJ Clayton stopped the streak with an offensive rebound tip-in, and Hawkins netted a 3-pointer to tie the game, 18-18, with 3:10 remaining in the half. However, Wichita State responded by outscoring Illinois State, 17-4, to end the second half en route to a 35-22 WSU halftime lead.
Wichita State's Conner Frankamp led all first-half scorers with 13 points. WSU outscored Illinois State, 22-2, to start the second half and build a 57-24, 33-point, advantage at the 13:51 mark. With most of ISU's starters on the bench later in the second half, WSU further extended its margin.
Following Saturday's game, Illinois State stays on the road to face Drake Tuesday at 7 p.m. live on ESPN3 and WJBC 1230-AM. The Redbirds then return to Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena Saturday, Feb. 11 to host Bradley at 9 p.m. For tickets to Illinois State home games, navigate to GoRedbirds.com/Tickets, call (309) 438-8000 or visit the Illinois State Athletics Ticket Office at the north entrance to Redbird Arena.
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
