by CARBONDALE, Ill. – Shaquille Morris scored a career-high 17 points off the bench, and No. 13 Wichita State matched its longest-ever winning streak at Southern Illinois with a 84-62 victory, Tuesday evening at SIU arena.
Morris scored all of his points between the 10:00 mark of the first half and the midway point of the second half, hitting 7-of-8 shots from the field and 3-of-4 free throw attempts to go with seven rebounds.
The redshirt freshman, whose had scored 10 points on two previous occasions, became the first Shockers in just over two years to lead the team in scoring off the bench. Fred VanVleet had 17 in a win over Drake on Feb. 13, 2013.
VanVleet and Ron Baker each chipped in 13 points and Tekele Cotton added 10 for WSU (24-3, 14-1 Missouri Valley Conference), which notched its third-straight victory at SIU, matching the 1981-83 Shockers for the longest in school history.
Deion Lavender paced SIU (10-18, 3-12 MVC) with 15 points to go with 14 from Anthony Beane.
The Shockers hit their first seven shots from the field to open up an early 13-point lead.
It started with a Ron Baker (Citizen Band Potawatomi Nation) layup just 15 seconds into the game. Darius Carter scored twice in the post, Tekele Cotton knocked down a three, and Fred VanVleet drilled a long jumper of his own, prompting SIU to burn its first timeout less than four minutes in with WSU out front 11-2.
The stoppage didn’t slow the Shockers. On the next possession, Baker drove the lane and scored through contact for what would turn into a three-point play and a 14-2 Shocker lead at the 15:57 mark.
Cotton drilled a trey moments later to stretch the advantage to 17-4.
WSU finally missed its first shot at the 14:00-mark when VanVleet came up empty on a three-point attempt.
SIU rallied back to within four points with help from a 9-2 run. Sean O’Brien provided the final four points, sticking a layup, then turning a steal into a full-court layup as SIU crept to within 21-17 with 9:37 to play in the half.
Shaquille Morris had a productive 90-second stretch for the Shockers to help push the lead back out, scoring three times in the post. The last came on a thunderous dunk through traffic.
Triples by Wessel and VanVleet again made it a 10-point game. Baker added one of his own, as WSU matched its biggest cushion to that point, 34-21.
The Shockers finished the half at 61.5 percent from the field (16-of-26), including a 6-for-10 performance from three-point range. They took a 41-28 lead into the break, led by 13 points from Baker.
Morris delivered another stretch of instant offense early in the second half after Carter went to the bench with two quick fouls, converting two layups, a long jumper and a free throw in a space of less than two minutes.
Cotton hit a jumper with his toes just inside the line, and Rashard Kelly converted a tricky layup to give the Shockers a 59-36 lead with just over 14 minutes to go, and Gregg Marshall gradually turned the bench loose.
Morris stuck a bank shot ahead the shot clock buzzer to extend his career-high to 17 points to make it a 66-39 advantage just ahead of the midway point.
Corey Henderson kept the Shocker offense in gear, hitting a pair of threes down the stretch.
WSU returns home Sunday afternoon to face Evansville in a 3:05 p.m. CT tip on ESPNU.
