TULSA, Okla. — Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker each scored 21 points and No. 14 Wichita State finished with a 26-6 run to shake free of pesky Tulsa for a 77-54 win Wednesday night.
Leading 51-48 after an inside basket by Tulsa’s James Woodard, Wichita State scored the next eight points to force a Golden Hurricane timeout with 8:35 left.
Wichita State (5-0) has outscored its opponents by a combined 71 points in the second half the past four games. Tulsa (0-3) was 13 for 30 from the free throw line. In its two home games this season, Tulsa is 30 for 66 from the line.
Tulsa pulled to 10 points on a 3-pointer by Pat Swilling with 5:39 to play, but VanVleet and Baker took over the game from there. VanVleet notched a 3-pointer on Wichita State’s next possession and Baker capped off the Shockers’ next two trips down the court with a jumper and a 3-pointer to boost Wichita State’s advantage to 71-53 with 3:26 remaining.
Swilling finished with 12 points, Tulsa’s only scorer in double-digits.
Neither team could establish any kind of dominance in a first half that ended tied 31-all. Wichita State looked as if it would carry some momentum into the locker room when a pair of steals with under a minute left resulted in baskets by Evan Wessel and VanVleet to give the Shockers a 31-29 edge. Tulsa, however, took advantage after a Wichita State miss, with Rashad Ray streaking for a layup with 1.1 seconds left to tie it.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Non-Conference
MEN
Wednesday
At Tulsa, Okla.
No. 14 Wichita State 77,
Tulsa 54
WICHITA ST. (5-0)
Early 3-8 5-5 12, Coleby 0-0 0-0 0, VanVleet 7-14 6-6 21, Baker 7-9 2-2 21, Cotton 3-10 2-4 9, Lufile 3-6 1-1 7, Green 0-0 0-0 0, Wessel 2-2 0-0 4, Bush 0-0 0-0 0, Simon 0-1 0-0 0, Wiggins 0-6 3-6 3. Totals 25-56 19-24 77.
TULSA (0-3)
Smith 1-5 4-7 6, Evans 2-3 1-5 6, Peete 1-1 0-0 3, Woodard 3-9 1-3 8, Harrison 1-3 3-6 5, Swilling, Jr. 4-12 1-2 12, Ray 2-4 1-1 5, Edogi 0-0 0-0 0, Curtis 1-3 0-2 2, Repichowski 0-0 0-0 0, Wright 2-3 2-4 7, Swannegan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 13-30 54.
Halftime—Tied 31-31. Three-point goals—Wichita St. 8-26 (Baker 5-7, Cotton 1-4, Early 1-4, VanVleet 1-4, Simon 0-1, Wiggins 0-6), Tulsa 7-20 (Swilling, Jr. 3-9, Peete 1-1, Wright 1-2, Evans 1-2, Woodard 1-4, Harrison 0-1, Smith 0-1). Fouled out—Coleby. Rebounds—Wichita St. 43 (Lufile 10), Tulsa 29 (Woodard 9). Assists—Wichita St. 9 (VanVleet 6), Tulsa 11 (Harrison 4). Total fouls—Wichita St. 23, Tulsa 20.
