by By Tyler Jones
ST. LOUIS- After winning the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title last week, Wichita State looked to continue their pursuit to sweep the league with their first matchup in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Friday matinee featured top-seed Wichita State (27-3, 17-1 MVC) taking on #9 seed Southern Illinois (12-20, 4-14 MVC), who had upset #8 seed Missouri State a day ago.
In the first half, Wichita State struggled to find their offense out of the gate, as the Shockers shot just 29% from the field with 9:18 left in the first. Wichita State would find their offense quickly though with a 14-1 run in just a stretch of three minutes.
Southern Illinois did put up a fight to Wichita State in the first half though, as the Salukis shot 50% from three-point range in the first and the lead changed seven times as well.
As Wichita State led at the break 28-20, the Shockers shot 39.1% as a team in the first. Tekele Cotton led the team in scoring with 9 points, followed by 7 points from Fred Vanvleet and 5 points from Ron Baker.
For Southern Illnois, they shot 36.4% from the field in the first. The Salukis’ leading scorer was Anthony Beane with 8 points, followed by 3 points from both Jalen Pendleton and Deion Lavender. Southern Illinois also won the battle of the bounds, with 16 rebounds compared to 15 from Wichita State in the first.
In the second half, Wichita State never trailed Southern Illinois and led by no less than six points in the half. The Shockers shot 44% from the field in the second and outscored Southern Illinois 28-25 for the half. Wichita State would go on to win by a final score of 56-45.
Southern Illinois Head Coach Barry Hinson after the game said that he told his player’s prior to the game, “Give me absolutely everything you have to win this game.” Hinson went on to say, “And they did just that.”
For the game, Southern Illinois shot 34% from the field. The Salukis’ leading scorer was Jalen Pendleton with 12 points, followed by 10 points from Anthony Beane and 8 points from Deion Lavender. Southern Illinois turned the ball over 18 times for the game.
Wichita State struggled offensively, but it was enough to get the victory. The Shockers shot 41.7% from the field and were led in scoring by Fred Vanvleet with 13 points, followed by 12 points from Tekele Cotton and 10 points from Ron Baker.
The fan base was dominated by a hive of Shocker fans. Ron Baker (Citizen Band Potawatomi) spoke about the fans and said, “Our fans travel well. Our fans are the best fans in the Valley (Missouri Valley Confernce).”
Vanvleet after the game said, “We did enough to move on.” Wichita State Head Coach Gregg Marshall alobarted on Vanvleet’s comments and said, “We didn’t play well. Just glad to move on.”
For Southern Illinois, they finish their season at 12-21. Wichita State moves ahead to 28-3 and advances to the semi-final and will face Illinois State on Saturday. The winner of Saturday’s semi-final will advance to the Missouri Valley Championship on Sunday.
