Illinois State

Wichita State moved to 4-1 in conference play as they defeated Illinois State Tuesday night 65 to 62. The Shockers sprinted out to a 22-5 lead to begin the game thanks to double-digit scoring from their point guard Joe Ragland.  Gregg Marshall's team was up by 16 at halftime and seemed to be cruising.  However Illinois State outscored the Shockers 40 to 27 in the second half and got within one before Wichita State was able to close...

Five games remain for Wichita State. Five game remain to determine the Shockers' post season plans: play amazing and get a great seed in the NCAA Tournament or not and await the basketball gods. Gregg Marshall is planning on treating this stretch like a mini-tournament for his team and it starts Sunday with Illinois State. "For obvious reasons these games have additional value," Marshall said Friday afternoon. "They are going to determine our seeding in St. Louis (in the MVC Tournament)

Plagued by cold shooting and untimely turnovers Wichita State couldn't cash in on their bid to set a new school record for consecutive victories falling to Illinois State, 68-59, Friday night at Charles KochArena. Trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half the Shockers were unable to close the gap, in front of a home crowd of 3,573, any closer than nine points as the Redbirds found a way to thwart each Shocker run to maintain a comfortable lead throughout. Jessica Diamond scored 15 points to lead the Shockers while Jazimen Gordon and Haleigh Lankster scored 12 and 10 points respectively.

Cleanthony Early scored 16 points to lead Wichita State over Illinois State 74-62 Wednesday night. Early was 5 of 11 from the field. Williams scored 14 points and Malcolm Armstead and Nick Wiggins had 10 points apiece for the Shockers (16-2, 5-1 Missouri Valley). Carl Hall had a team-high 10 rebounds, and Tekele Cotton had seven points and seven assists. Wichita State led 31-20 at halftime. Wichita State shot 46.6 percent from the field and had 44 rebounds. The Redbirds shot 32.8 percent and had 36 rebounds.

He hadn't hit much of anything except Illinois State players up until that point, but in the final seconds of Sunday night's game Cleanthony Early became the hero.  Early's three-point basket with 4 seconds left put the Shockers up by 1 and eventually turned into the game-winner.   Early was barren from the field in the first half and scored all 12 of his points in the second.  He may have had the late-game heroics but it was Malcolm Armstead who kept the Shockers in the game.  Armstead helped spark a 9-0 run by the Shockers in the second half to cut the Redbirds' lead to 4.  His 18 points and 6 assists paced Wichita State on the night.

Wichita State defeated Illinois State 66-51 to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship game.  That game will be played at 1:05 Sunday afternoon on KWCH 12.  Carl Hall scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to help spur Wichita State to the victory.  Malcolm Armstead finished with 15 points for Wichita State. The Shockers played excellent defense against the Redbirds, not allowing them to score a field goal until the 7:26 mark of the first half.  The Shockers outrebounded Illinois State 48-31 for the game and finished with 7 steals.  Wichita State had 32 offensive rebounds to the Redbirds' 19. Jackie Carmichael, a Manhattan, Kansas native lead the Redbirds with 22 points and five rebounds, to go along with three blocks.

Illinois State avoided a sweep this afternoon at Eck stadium, beating Wichita State 9-4. Multiple errors in the second inning helped Illinois State take an early 5-0 lead over Wichita State .  The Shockers got on the board in the 4th inning, plating two runs, but a three-run 5th inning for the Redbirds gave them all the momentum they needed for the win. Wichita State used 8 pitchers in today's game.  Starter Josh Smith...

Wichita State senior Carl Hall took part in his first live action in practice Monday afternoon and it's possible he will play on Wednesday against Illinois State.  Coach Marshall said on his Monday radio show that Hall has been cleared to play but he's not sure how much he'll play in the Shockers next couple of games. Hall has been out since December 15th when he broke his thumb during practice.  Hall was expected to miss one month which make this week his estimated reutrn date.

Wichita State's third game of the valley tournament will be a rematch against the Indiana State Sycamores. The Shockers will play Indiana State at 4 pm today. Indiana State stayed alive in the loser's bracket by defeating Illinois State 7-6 this morning in Omaha.  The Shockers beat the Sycamores 7-3 last night.

The 19th ranked Wichita State Shockers are the Missouri Valley regular season champions after defeating Illinois State 68 to 55 on the road Wednesday night. Joe Ragland led Wichita State (25-4, 15-2) in scoring with 14 points while Bryant Allen paced the Redbirds (17-12, 8-9) with 17.  Four Shockers finished in double-digits scoring including Garrett Stutz who recorded another double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds). The Shockers jumped out to an early 10-2 lead before going on a run and eventually building up a 12-point lead at halftime.  Illinois State rallied in the second to get within 5 but back-to-back three-pointers by Ragland and Ben Smith put the Shockers ahead by 17 points with less than 10 minutes to play.

Wichita State men's golf won the team's 6th straight Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title on Tuesday afternoon, and they did so in record-breaking fashion.  Grier Jones' group beat the field by a whopping 32-stroke margin.  The team held a 24-stroke lead heading into the final 18 holes.  Here is the full release from Wichita State: The Wichita State University men's golf team captured its sixth-straight Missouri Valley...

For What it's Worth---April 2 On my way to school yesterday my son asked me if it was April fool's day. “Yes”, I replied. Whereupon, from the back seat, my 10-year old daughter queried; “it's March 1st? “ This is the same little girl who upon making the honor roll at school asked earnestly - “how did I do it?” 10 point dogs - Wichita State is going to get less of a chance from the pundits than they did against Gonzaga or Ohio State, how did those games work out?

Courtesy of Wichita State - WICHITA, Kan.- Four Shockers had two or more RBI as the Wichita State baseball team won their series over Illinois State with a 12-2 win on Saturday night at Eck Stadium. A.J. Ladwig got the win for Wichita State pitching 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on eight hits. Garrett Bayliff went 4-for-6 at the plate with three RBI. Eric Harbutz went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. The Shockers started the game off on the right foot, batting around in the lineup in the bottom of the first inning to score five runs.

The Wichita State Shocker baseball team defeated Air Force in Eck Stadium 3-2 on Tuesday. The second game on Wednesday also swayed in the Shockers' favor. After an intense eight innings, the Shockers put up three runs to defeat the Falcons and sweep the series 4-1. It was also a big day at the plate for freshman outfielder Joe Haddox. He went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. The Shockers earned the first run of the game in the fourth inning. Senior Johnny Coy led off with a double down the left field line.

The Kansas State women's basketball team defeated Illinois State 57-48 on Monday night to advance in the Women's N.I.T.  Here is the official release from the university athletic department:   Brittany Chambers scored a game-high 28 points as Kansas State ran past Illinois State, 57-48, in the second round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament on Monday night in Bramlage Coliseum. Following her 42 points on Thursday night, Chambers has now scored more points in back-to-back games than any player in program history.

“Everyone's been saying that we're completely healthy since Carl got back, but we still had our starting two guard and small forward on the sideline.  We haven't been healthy since the eighth game of the season.” Wichita State Head Coach Gregg Marshall after yesterday's win over Missouri State. Baker rising I think we understood that we would see Ron Baker yesterday. I'm not so sure I thought we would see him as much as we did against Missouri State.  His 19 minutes were his first since he played 29 at Tennessee in early December.  A stress fracture in his foot shut him down for twenty one games, nearly three months.  More amazing that the 15 points he had yesterday was his apparent game readiness.  Marshall used him in short bursts, but Baker never seemed gassed.  Afterward he admitted that he was playing on a lot of adrenaline, it'll be interesting to see if he can continue to play at such a high rate, especially in a format that has you playing every day.   Click here to see photos of the WSU v. MSU match up Click here to read postgame comments Use caution It should be noted that, while Baker's return yesterday gave the Shockers an increased vitality, any player looks better when they're hitting shots.  In his first ten games, Baker hit 32 percent of his three point attempts; against Missouri State he nailed three of five.  His 15 points were the most since he had 18 in the opener.  Still,...

Creighton fans purchased about 5,000 tickets to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, blowing away the old record for a single school. Wichita State has sold about half that so far - still an excellent showing for a school 450 miles from here. But the Scottrade Center has 20,948 seats. Many of them will be occupied by fans with no rooting interest for either team. Click here to see photos of WSU v Illinois State match up So who should those people cheer for when the Shockers and Bluejays meet in the Valley Tournament championship Sunday afternoon?

Wichita State defeated Illinois State 66-51 to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship game.  That game will be played at 1:05 Sunday afternoon on KWCH 12.  Carl Hall scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to help spur Wichita State to the victory.  Malcolm Armstead finished with 15 points for Wichita State. The Shockers played excellent defense against the Redbirds, not allowing them to score a field goal until the 7:26 mark of the first half.  The Shockers outrebounded Illinois State 48-31 for the game and finished with 7 steals.  Wichita State had 32 offensive rebounds to the Redbirds' 19. Jackie Carmichael, a Manhattan, Kansas native lead the Redbirds with 22 points and five rebounds, to go along with three blocks.

Wichita State used 10 players Friday night, and all 10 of them scored. The Shockers out-rebounded Missouri State by 19, and they never trailed in the second half. But they were tested all night against a surprisingly resilient Bears team, which was coming back from a hard-fought victory from the night before to even reach the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals. The Shockers finished strong to come out with a 69-59 victory, advancing to Saturday's semifinals. Waiting for the Shockers is Illinois State, and Kansas native Jackie Carmichael.

I will never understand how a division one athlete-- who's good enough to have his college education paid for-- can commit a foul on three-point point shot.  Especially in a game when you lead by seven points with 0:37 seconds left.  Fortunately, Cleanthony Early hit two late free throws to seal the deal at Indiana State. Shockers rallying Four straight wins now, but back to back wins against two of the Valley's best with just one days rest in between.  That's pretty impressive stuff and with it the Shocks are just a win away over Evansville at home from clinching no worse than a tie for their second straight Valley championship.