by WICHITA, Kan.- Ron Baker (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds and Fred VanVleet became Wichita State’s all-time assists leader to push the Shocker men’s basketball team past Evansville 62-43 on Sunday afternoon inside Charles Koch Arena.
VanVleet scored 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while pulling down eight rebounds and handing out five assists. Evan Wessel added 11 points and four rebounds.
VanVleet hit Wichita State’s first shot of the game with a three-pointer on the first offensive possession. Baker’s three at the 15:26 mark put the score at 6-2 Shockers as the two teams were in a low scoring affair in the opening minutes. Wichita State took a 6-4 advantage into the first media timeout.
After Baker connected on another three, VanVleet continued the offense for Wichita State with back-to-back buckets. His drive and layup in transition made the score 11-6 Wichita State and his three on next possession pushed the lead 14-6 and forced an Evansville timeout with 11:59 remaining in the half.
Five minutes later, Wessel hit a corner three off an assist from VanVleet to cap an 8-0 run for the Shockers and put them up 17-6.
VanVleet continued to carve-up the Purple Aces’s defense, hitting a three to bust the Evansville zone at the 5:41 mark. Then, a couple of possessions later, the junior point guard lost his defender with a crossover and nailed two-point jumper to stretch the Wichita State lead to 26-12 with a little more than three minutes remaining in the half.
The Shockers took a 30-14 lead into the locker room, as VanVleet hit a fade-away jumper as time expired. The Wichita State defense held Evansville without a basket over the last 6-plus minutes of the half and the Purple Aces shot 4-for-22 (.182) during the first 20 minutes. VanVleet led the way with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Ron Baker added six points and eight rebounds.
Wessel continued the scoring for the Shockers in the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play at the 17:47 mark that saw Wichita State go ahead 33-18.
Three minutes later, Baker connected on a three from the top of the arc and then made a layup on the next Shocker possession to give his team a 40-19 advantage with a little less than 14 minutes to go in the game.
Wichita State coasted the rest of the way, with lead hovering around 20 for the remainder of the game. They shot 22-for-57 (.386) and held the Purple Aces to 15-of-48 (.313) shooting.
The Shockers next head to Terre Haute for a game against Indiana State on Wed., Feb. 25. The contest is set to top at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on Kansas 22.
