National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wichita St. 78, Drake 61
When: 8:05 PM ET, Saturday, January 25, 2014
Where: Knapp Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Officials: # Terry Davis, # Paul Janssen, # Bob Steffan
Attendance: 6127

No. 4 Wichita State 78, Drake 61: Cleanthony Early collected 19 points and seven rebounds and Ron Baker added 14 points as the visiting Shockers dominated the second half to remain unbeaten.

Nick Wiggins scored 11 points off the bench and Fred VanVleet had nine points and five assists for Wichita State (21-0, 8-0 Missouri Valley Conference), which stands as one of the nation’s last three unbeaten teams, along with No. 1 Arizona and second-ranked Syracuse. Darius Carter chipped in seven points and five rebounds.

Aaron Hawley led Drake (11-9, 2-6) with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, and Chris Caird had 15. Jordan Daniels contributed 12 points for the Bulldogs, who were outrebounded 34-20 and lost for the sixth time in their last seven games.

Drake hit five 3-pointers in the first half and trailed 37-29 at the break before the Shockers opened the second half on a 15-6 run. Daniels hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 54-44 with just under 12 minutes remaining, but the Shockers pulled away with 11 unanswered points.

Early, who made six 3-pointers and scored 23 points in Wednesday’s win at Illinois State, shot 7-of-10 and hit three shots from beyond the arc against Drake. The Shockers, off to their best start in school history, shot 52.7 percent and won their fourth straight against the Bulldogs.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Wichita State improved to 98-16 when outrebounding its opponent over the last three-plus seasons. … Drake G Richard Carter, who entered the game averaging a team-high 17.9 points, missed three of his five shots and was held to six points. … Shockers G Tekele Cotton finished with eight points, including a one-handed slam on a pass from Baker late in the first half.
Top Game Performances
 
Wichita St.   Drake
Cleanthony Early 19 Scoring Aaron Hawley 16
Fred VanVleet 5 Assists Karl Madison 5
Cleanthony Early 7 Rebounds Aaron Hawley 4
Fred VanVleet 5 Free Throws Made Trevor Berkeley 5
Kadeem Coleby 2 Steals Chris Caird 1
Kadeem Coleby 2 Blocks Trevor Berkeley 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Wichita St. 78 52.7 7-20 13-15 17 32 4 7 14
Drake 61 44.4 10-21 11-17 13 20 1 4 13