Top 25 roundup: Wichita State punches NCAA ticket

Send a link to a friend  Share

[March 06, 2017]  The Sports Xchange

ST. LOUIS -- No. 21 Wichita State left nothing to chance Sunday.

Getting a game-high 19 points from Conner Frankamp and 16 from Markis McDuffie, the second-seeded Shockers beat top-seeded Illinois State 71-51 in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at Scottrade Center.

The result clinched a sixth straight bid to the NCAA Tournament for Wichita State (30-4). Meanwhile, the Redbirds (27-6) might have to sweat things out over the next week despite an RPI of No. 26 as they hope for an at-large berth.

MVC Player of the Year Paris Lee paced Illinois State with 18 points but didn't get enough help from his teammates. Struggling to create and then make their shots, the Redbirds canned just 29.3 percent of their field goals and 21.4 percent on 3-pointers.

No. 16 Purdue 69, Northwestern 65

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Vincent Edwards scored 25 points and Caleb Swanigan added 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Boilermakers held on for a victory over the Wildcats.

The Big Ten regular-season champion, Purdue (25-6, 14-4) also got 13 points from Dakota Mathias.

Bryant McIntosh scored 25 points, Sanjay Lumpkin had 13 and Dererk Pardon added 11 for Northwestern (21-10, 10-8). The Wildcats are looking for a first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

[to top of second column]

No. 18 Cincinnati 67, Connecticut 47

STORRS, Conn. -- Gary Clark recorded 17 points and 14 rebounds, and swingman Jarron Cumberland added 15 points as the Bearcats crushed the Huskies.

Jacob Evans contributed 12 points for Cincinnati (27-4, 16-2 American Athletic Conference).

Rodney Purvis celebrated his Senior Day at Connecticut (14-16, 9-9) with 15 points. Amida Brimah had 11 points and six rebounds.

No. 22 Wisconsin 66, Minnesota 49

MADISON, Wis. -- Bronson Koenig scored a game-high 17 points -- all in the second half -- as Wisconsin defeated Minnesota at the Kohl Center.

Koenig was 5 of 8 from 3-point range for the Badgers, who got 12 points each from Zak Showalter and Nigel Hayes. Not only did the victory snap a three-game losing streak for the Badgers (23-9, 12-6 Big Ten), it also gave Wisconsin the No. 2 seed for the Big Ten tournament.

Nate Mason scored 17 points for the Gophers (23-8, 11-7), whose eight-game winning streak was snapped. Amir Coffey added 13.

-----------------------------------------------

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Back to top