No. 22 Wichita St Uses Balanced Scoring To Top Loyola, 80-54

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Shaquille Morris had 12 points to lead No. 22 Wichita State past Loyola of Chicago, 80-54, on Wednesday night.

Wichita State (15-5, 9-0 Missouri Valley) had seven players score at least eight points, including Rashard Kelly with 11. Fred VanVleet had eight points and eight assists.

Montel James and Earl Peterson each scored 11 for Loyola (9-12, 2-7).

After closing within 13 at halftime, Loyola maintained some momentum to start the second half. The Ramblers made five of their first six shots, including 3-pointers from Milton Doyle and Ben Richardson. But that only helped trim Wichita State's lead to 47-36 with 14:03 to play.

The Shockers then methodically put the game away, holding the Ramblers to two points over the next 5 1/2 minutes.

Conner Frankamp's 3-pointer made it 56-36 Shockers with 11:05 remaining, and Loyola called a timeout.

Wichita State's surge continued. VanVleet hit consecutive 3-pointers and then threw an alley-oop pass that Kelly slammed home.

The Shockers led 66-40 with 8 minutes to play, and Loyola called another timeout. Wichita State's lead grew to 70-40 after VanVleet's free throws with 6:01 remaining.

Wichita State scored the first eight points of the game. Zach Brown's 3-pointer gave the Shockers an 8-0 lead with 17:08 left in the first half, leading Loyola to call a timeout.

The Shockers really took control with a 16-4 run led by Evan Wessel, who entered averaging 3.8 points per game. Wessel hit two 3s and scored eight points during that stretch, pushing Wichita State's advantage to 24-8 with 8:30 to play in the half.

The Ramblers got back into the game late in the half. James scored seven of Loyola's final eight points, including a tip-in at the buzzer to make it 37-24 Wichita State at halftime.

James had 11 points in the first half to lead all scorers.

WE'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY

This was Wichita State's first game as a ranked team since Nov. 29, when the Shockers lost 84-61 to Iowa in the seventh-place game of the Advocare Invitational in Orlando. Wichita State is 13-1 since that defeat. Iowa is 12-1 since that game, going from unranked to No. 3 in the nation this week.

NO SURPRISE

Despite having only one player among the conference's top 20 rebounders, Wichita State entered leading the Missouri Valley with a plus-5.2 rebounding margin. Loyola came in last in that category at minus-3.7. Wichita State outrebounded Loyola 40-30.

TIP-INS

Loyola: This was the Ramblers' third trip to Wichita as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. They have averaged 48.6 points in those games. . Loyola did not start its two leading scorers this season, Doyle and James. The Ramblers' bench was still outscored 39-24, making Wichita State only the second conference opponent to do that.

Wichita State: The Shockers are 9-0 in Missouri Valley play for the third straight season. . Wichita State has won 42 straight home games, the second-longest active streak in the country. . VanVleet had eight assists, giving him 473 in his career and moving him into the top 10 in Missouri Valley history. . Ron Baker had eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.

UP NEXT

Loyola hosts Indiana State on Saturday.

Wichita State travels to Evansville on Sunday.

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