William Ford
Daily Egyptian
Indiana State, the No. 9 seed, played gutsy like a team facing
elimination, but in the end the regular season Missouri Valley
Conference champions were too much to handle.
Wichita State defeated the Sycamores 81-63 in a second round MVC tournament match-up between the two teams Friday.
Indiana State entered halftime down by six, but battled back in the
second half behind strong three point shooting to overtake the Shocker
lead.
"They shot the ball well and had a lot of confidence," Wichita State head coach Mark Turgeon said.
The Sycamore lead would be short-lived however, as the Shockers were
able to generate some three-point offense of their own and re-take the
advantage.
About 14 minutes through the second half with his team leading by six,
senior forward Kyle Wilson hit back-to-back threes to put any chance of
a Sycamore upset out of reach. Wilson finished the game with 10 points
and five rebounds.
Turgeon said Wilson?s threes were a big boost for the team.
"I don't know if the game was over but they were big for us," Turgeon
said. "They were not going to let us beat them from the inside."
Shocker center Paul Miller showed why he was selected Valley Player of
the Year by hitting several key free throws and field goals to end
seeming Sycamore runs after his team regained the lead. Miller finished
the game with 15 points and 4 rebounds.
"Paul is such a great player. Any time our offense is struggling, we try to get it to him," Wilson said.
