No. 2 Wichita State goes 30-0

Associated Press

PEORIA, Ill. — Wichita State is all alone in the record book.

Again using a balanced offense and tenacious defense, the second-ranked Shockers became the first Division I team to reach 30-0 in the regular season with a 69-49 victory over Bradley on Tuesday night.

“To be the first and only team in college basketball to win 30 without a loss in the regular season,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said when asked about his theme for the game. “I realize we’re playing more games … but it has never happened in the regular season.

“So it’s a first. And these guys like to be the first, and the best.”

Ron Baker had 15 points to lead four Wichita State players in double figures as the Shockers became the 11th team to reach 30-0, the previous 10 all hitting the 30-win mark during postseason play. The last team to reach 30-0 was UNLV in 1990-91. The Runnin’ Rebels went 34-0 that season before losing to Duke in the national semifinals.

The Shockers (30-0, 17-0 Missouri Valley Conference) have one more regular-season game, at home Saturday against Missouri State. The last team to finish a regular season unbeaten was Saint Joseph’s in 2003-04 at 27-0. The next season, Illinois got to 29-0 before losing its regular-season finale at Ohio State.

A barrage of 3-pointers early in the second half broke it open for Wichita State, which beat Bradley (12-18, 7-10) for the 10th straight time and second this season.

After Bradley trimmed a 10-point halftime deficit to eight, Shockers point guard Fred VanVleet made consecutive 3s for a 14-point lead, the visitors’ largest to that point. By the 12:50 mark, Cleanthony Early had added a 3-pointer and Baker made two 3s off screens for a 50-32 lead.

Wichita State finished the game 11 of 21 from beyond the arc, with four players making two or more. Bradley was 4 of 14.

“End-of-shot-clock 3s. That was it,” Bradley coach Geno Ford said. “I’m not saying we were going to win, but you hold them to seven offensive rebounds and have just six turnovers? I’ll take it.

“The difference was late-shot-clock 3s and their length at the basket.”

Ford went on to laud the Shockers’ defense.

“At the rim, they have unbelievable length,” Ford said. “It’s length and it comes from anywhere. Even (6-foot-3) Baker.

“They’re absolutely terrific at help and recover, and they deny (wing passes). You can’t find five teams in the country with that (combination).”

Tyshon Pickett finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds for Bradley after nearly reaching a double-double in the first half with 10 points and nine rebounds. Pickett was just 5-of-20 from the field and leading scorer Walt Lemon Jr. was 6 for 20 and had 18 points.

“I hate to get beat on the glass,” Marshall said of his team’s 37-36 rebound disadvantage. “But (Pickett) was a monster. He beasted us a little.”

Tekele Cotton scored 13 points, Early 12 and VanVleet had 11 for Wichita State, a Final Four participant a year ago. Reserve Darius Carter added nine points and seven rebounds and had one of the Shockers’ six blocked shots.

Miserable shooting prevented Bradley from mounting much of a threat. The Braves were at 25 percent (11 for 44) through 30 minutes and finished 16 for 59 (27.1 percent).

Bradley was playing host to its highest-ranked opponent since 1982, when then-No. 2 Wichita State lost 55-47 to the Braves who went on to win the NIT.

The Shockers led 35-25 at halftime after holding the Braves to 8-of-34 shooting (23.5 percent).

The game was a matchup of the top two defensive teams in the conference, though Wichita State (60.8 points per game) leads Bradley (65.5) comfortably. Offensively, Wichita State is also the MVC’s best (75.8) while Bradley (63.8) is last.

The No. 2 ranking equals the highest ranking in Wichita State history, matching the 1981-82 team.

No. 1 FLORIDA 57. VANDERBILT 54

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dorian Finney-Smith scored 19 points, and No. 1 Florida held off Vanderbilt 57-54 on Tuesday night to clinch at least a share of its second straight Southeastern Conference title and seventh overall.

Patric Young added 12 points for the Gators (26-2, 15-0 SEC), who continued the best season in school history by winning their 20th straight game, and now they will have a chance to claim their third SEC title in four years all to themselves with a win against LSU on Saturday.

The Commodores (15-12, 7-8) beat Florida 83-70 the last time the Gators came into Memorial Gym ranked No. 1, on Feb. 17, 2007. Coach Kevin Stallings only has seven healthy scholarship players right now, and they proved no match for Florida’s smothering defense.

Kyle Fuller missed a tying 3 in the final seconds, and Dai-Jon Parker missed a putback attempt.

Rod Odom scored 12 points and Parker added 11 as Vanderbilt outshot Florida 48.8 percent (20 of 41) to 40.4 percent (21 of 52).

Fuller’s three-point play with 3:16 remaining made it 53-50. Finney-Smith hit a free throw, then Vanderbilt forced a shot clock violation. Fuller made two free throws with a minute left but Finney-Smith knocked down a 3 with 30.6 seconds to go for the clinching basket.

No. 6 DUKE 66, VIRGINIA TECH 48

DURHAM, N.C. — Rodney Hood scored 21 points to lead Duke.

Rasheed Sulaimon added 15 points for the Blue Devils (23-6, 12-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who jumped to a 24-4 lead midway through the first half and never trailed — though they struggled to land a game-finishing blow on the Hokies.

The last-place Hokies (9-18, 2-13) had a strong start to the second half and got within seven points, but never seriously threatened what would have been an improbable comeback in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Blue Devils finished the game shooting 39 percent, including 10 for 33 from 3-point range — well below their ACC-leading 40.7 percent.

The Blue Devils had completed a stretch of four games in eight days with Saturday’s home win against then-No. 1 Syracuse, which came about 48 hours after the weather-delayed rivalry loss at North Carolina.

Hood was 9 of 17 from the field to lead the Blue Devils, while Sulaimon knocked down four 3-pointers. Freshman Jabari Parker added a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to go with three blocks.

Freshman Trevor Thompson matched his season-high with 15 points to lead Virginia Tech.

No. 14 WISCONSIN 69, INDIANA 58

MADISON, Wis. — Sam Dekker scored 16 points as Wisconsin shrugged off a slow start.

The Hoosiers (15-12, 5-9 Big Ten) held Wisconsin (23-5, 10-5) to its lowest point production in the first half this season, taking a 29-19 lead.

But Wisconsin outscored Indiana 9-2 over the first 3 minutes of the second half. The Badgers shot 26 percent in the first half and they hit 62 percent of their shots in the second. They went 6 of 11 from the 3-point line after making just 1 of 10 in the first half.

After Indiana’s Stanford Robinson converted a three-point play with more than 14 minutes to go, the Badgers went on a 22-5 run to put the game away.

Yogi Ferrell scored 21 points to lead Indiana, while freshman Noah Vonleh added 18.

Traevon Jackson scored 14 points for the Badgers, Ben Brust added 12, Josh Gasser 11 and Frank Kaminsky had 10 to go along with nine rebounds.

MINNESOTA 95, No. 20 IOWA 89

MINNEAPOLIS — Austin Hollins scored a career-high 27 points on 8-for-10 shooting and DeAndre Mathieu had 19 points and seven assists as Minnesota bounced back from a monthlong slump.

Hollins made all seven of his free throws for the Gophers (18-11, 7-9 Big Ten), who won for just the third time in their last nine games by making 13 of their last 14 free throws over the final 70 seconds. Charles Buggs added a career-high 13 points.

Roy Devyn Marble had only five of his 24 points in the second half for the Hawkeyes (19-8, 8-6), who have their first two-game losing streak of the season. Aaron White added 21 points, and Josh Oglesby scored 16 in his first start of the season.

After managing just 54, 49 and 46 points in each of their last three games, the Gophers posted their season-high score while shooting 30 for 49 from the field (61.2 percent).

The Gophers locked the game at the line despite not making a field goal over the final 8 minutes.

No. 25 NEW MEXICO 67, UTAH ST. 58

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Cullen Neal scored nine of his 12 points in a decisive run in the second half for New Mexico.

Cameron Bairstow had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Lobos (22-5, 13-3 Mountain West) while Alex Kirk added 13 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Utah State led 47-39 with 11:29 left after Preston Medlin hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play.

But Neal started the long run with a 3-pointer and Kirk scored six straight points near the end the surge that left New Mexico holding a 62-52 lead.

The Lobos controlled the glass, holding a 46-30 edge, including 12-6 on the offensive end.

Medlin scored 19 points to lead the Aggies (15-13, 5-10).