Today in Shockers Sports History: January 22nd

[WuShock Reaper]

For the day, the Shockers are:
14 and 9

Regular Season (Games of Interest):
2014 – (#5) WSU won at Illinois State in Normal, Ill. 70-55. Cleanthony Early and No. 5 Wichita State now have something else in common with Larry Bird's Indiana State team. Wichita State beat Illinois State 70-55 to remain unbeaten, along with No. 1 Arizona and No. 2 Syracuse. The Shockers (20-0, 7-0 Missouri Valley Conference), coming off a Final four appearance last season, are the second MVC team to open a season 20-0, joining Bird's Indiana State squad of 1978-79 that played in the Final Four. "We started playing our brand of basketball," said sophomore point guard Fred VanVleet, whose six assists and one turnover will keep him second in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio. In addition, to the great overall play, there was "None better than the last of Tekele Cotton's 12 points, a thunderous, baseline dunk with 5:40 left that had his teammates searching for superlatives. "It was indescribable," said Baker, who scored 15. "That," Marshall said, "was quite a play by a tremendous, tremendous athlete. It seemed like he never stopped rising. That was just a throw, a throwdown into the rim."

2011 – Beat Indiana State in Wichita 93-83 (3OT). The Shockers (16-4, 7-2 Missouri Valley) pulled into a second-place tie with Indiana State (12-8, 7-2) and narrowly avoided a third straight home loss. The Sycamores finally built a lead there, going up 79-75 with 2:44 on the clock, but then got behind 80-79. After a Myles Walker hook shot gave Indiana State an 81-80 lead, Toure Murry's free throw tied it again, leading to the final overtime. Wichita State ended the game on a 12-0 run, spurred by Ben Smith's go-ahead 3-pointer.

2006 – Won at Missouri State in Springfield, Mo. 68-62. The Shockers were down by 12-points at the half 31 to 43.

2005 – Beat Southern Illinois in Wichita 58-56

1998 – Won at Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa 67-57

1992 – Beat Northern Iowa in Wichita 65-60

1981 – Won at Creighton in Omaha, Neb. 77-72

1974 – Beat North Texas in Wichita 83-76

1921 – Beat Wichita American Legion in Wichita (Fairmount) 54-15

1916 – Beat Bethel in Wichita 49-21

[WuShock Reaper]

January 22nd, 2014 - Wichita State at Illinois State
"I thought they were just going to end the game right there", said Ron Baker.

January 22nd, 2011 - Wichita State vs. Indiana State - TRIPLE OVERTIME (3OT)

[WuDrWu]

Literally will never get old. Watch Steve Forbes on the bench. He strained his core on that one.

I loved reading ISUr fans trying to convince themselves it was an offensive foul and TC used his off arm to further elevate himself. Especially when there was clear and obvious arm contact by John Jones. Only Randy Heimerman's sympathy for any WSU opponent kept that from being a celebratory And1.

[WstateU]

Literally will never get old. Watch Steve Forbes on the bench. He strained his core on that one.

I loved reading ISUr fans trying to convince themselves it was an offensive foul and TC used his off arm to further elevate himself. Especially when there was clear and obvious arm contact by John Jones. Only Randy Heimerman's sympathy for any WSU opponent kept that from being a celebratory And1.

I can't begin to fabricate a story to 'top' that moment in time. But one time ole Ross and I... oh never mind.

[WuShock16]

2005. Shockers took down the Salukis. Big game with big buildup. One different thing about this one was that the previous game took place on a Monday, so it felt like a football game with the nearly weeklong buildup. The Egyptian Dogs had generally always handled the Shockers at that point in time, so it was definitely a marker game to find out how we compared to a league power.

The game was not aesthetically-pleasing (typical for SIU games), and the Shockers trailed at half but at least were hanging around. They started the second half with a flurry, taking the lead in the first few minutes of the second half. It was tied late when Jamar Howard fed Kyle Wilson in the post for a go-ahead score in the final minute. SIU would eventually have one more chance in the closing seconds, but PJ Couisnard deflected the inbounds pass towards halfcourt, and Jamar Howard stole a desperation pass to run out the clock. Big, big win!

It was unfortunate that the team hit the skids in February because it really felt like the Shockers had a real chance to snag the league title after that tremendous victory.