 Shaq Morris had 18 points, Connor Frankamp and Markis McDuffie added 13 apiece and No. 25 Wichita State announced its return to the Top 25 with a 109-83 blitz of Evansville on Tuesday night. Landry Shamet added 12 points and Darral Willis Jr. had 11 for the Shockers (26-4, 16-1 Missouri Valley), who finally elbowed their way into the poll this week for the sixth straight season. They might just keep on rising if they continue to win. The nation's No. 2 team in scoring margin and one of the best defensive teams in the country hasn't lost since Jan. 14. Jaylon Brown had 25 points to lead Evansville (14-16, 5-12), which has dropped nine straight to Wichita State. Dru Smith hit 5 3-pointers and finished with 19 points. The Shockers wasted no time putting away their 11th consecutive win, giving coach Gregg Marshall plenty of time to honor former walks-ons Zach Bush and John Robert Simon, his only two seniors. Shamet started the onslaught with consecutive 3-pointers during a 12-0 run in the game's first 5 minutes. Then, Frankcamp got busy at both ends of the court, at one point ripping away a steal and then tallying an assist by finding McDuffie for an easy basket at the other end. Frankamp also poured in a couple of 3s of his own as Wichita State built a 48-32 halftime lead. The Purple Aces, overmatched and outhustled, allowed the game to get away from them early in the second half. Wichita State converted points on eight consecutive possessions, and then Zach Brown hit a 3-pointer following their first empty trip, as the lead swelled to 66-42 with 14:50 to go. The Shockers' seniors entered with 7:06 left. And on a night when everything was going right, Busch and Simon got into the scoring act to put a tidy bow on an easy win. BIG PICTUREThe Shockers can clinch a share of their fourth straight Missouri Valley title if Illinois State loses to Southern Illinois on Wednesday night. But they will most likely need to beat Missouri State on the road Saturday. Their only league loss was at Illinois State on Jan. 14. Evansville appeared to be turning its season around when it followed a nine-game skid with four straight wins. But the Purple Aces blew a 14-point second-half lead at Bradley, then never put up much of a fight against the hot-shooting Shockers. UP NEXTWichita State finishes its regular season against the Bears on Saturday. Evansville returns home to face Indiana State on Saturday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25.)
Time: 8:00 PM EST A 10-game win streak in the Missouri Valley Conference has Wichita State back into the Top 25 basketball poll at No. 25 after more than a year out of the rankings. The Shockers, who host Evansville on Tuesday, were previously in the poll, also at No. 25, on Feb. 5, 2016." It means that enough writers or coaches, whoever, think we're a pretty good basketball team, and that's good," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said of the ranking. "That's a positive. I don't see any way that can be construed as a negative. Hopefully, we can continue winning and keep moving on." Wichita State (25-4, 15-1 MVC) plays its final regular-season home game against the Aces, who lost to the Shockers 82-65 a month ago. In that game, Evansville's David Howard played only six minutes without scoring while Christian Benzon had only one point in 11 minutes. The Aces (14-15, 5-11) are utilizing Howard and Benson much more since the last meeting. They were two key players as Evansville won four consecutive games before losing 84-72 at Bradley last Saturday. Howard, a 6-foot-8 center, is averaging 12.6 points and 6.3 rebounds over his past eight games, a stretch in which he posted a career-high 21 points against Drake. In his first 20 games, he scored in double figures only once. Benzon, a 6-4 guard, started the past five games and played 32 or more minutes in each. He averaged 7.4 points in those games." (Howard's) been really aggressive," Evansville coach Marty Simmons said. "He's done a nice job of getting the ball in (good) positions. He's a really skilled post player who can score over either shoulder." The newfound scoring of Howard and Benzon complements Jaylon Brown (20.3 points a game) and Ryan Taylor (14.9). Junior guard Boo Gibson also scored a career-high 27 points in a win at Southern Illinois. Wichita State defeated Northern Iowa 73-44 on Saturday in its most recent outing. Landry Shamet and Darral Willis Jr. tied for the team lead with 14 points in the win, with Shamet making four 3-pointers to go along with four assists. Willis went 4 of 8 from the field and 6 of 7 from the line to go along with 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes. Markis McDuffie, who leads the Shockers with an average of 11.8 points and 5.9 rebounds a game, added 12 points and seven rebounds in the rout of the Panthers. Wichita State is scoring 81.5 points per game on 47.6 percent shooting from the field, including 39.9 percent from 3-point range. The Shockers' defense is a reason for their winning streak. Wichita State is holding opponents to just 62.2 points per game, the 11th-lowest total in the country, while boasting the nation's third-lowest field-goal percentage against, holding opposition to just 37.4 percent from beyond the arc this season." You have to guard them," Marshall said of Evansville, which averages 68.6 points a game but managed 74 points a game in its recent four-game win streak. "You have to respect their motion offense. If you're not in tune and ready to guard for 30 seconds every possession, you're going to get screened and they're going to get a good look." You've got to anticipate how tough they are and how hard they play. They're well-coached." Marshall is cautiously optimistic that J. R. Simon, one of two senior walk-ons, can play on Senior Night. Smith has been sidelined since Feb. 12 with a foot injury. The other senior walk-on is Zach Bush." Hopefully we can get (the two of them) some quality minutes, and they can have their final home game be a positive one," Marshall said. Since the NCAA cut its scholarship limit to 13 in 1993, Simon and Bush are only the third and fourth Shocker walk-ons to play all four seasons.
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