Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wichita St. 64, Cal Poly SLO 37
When: 7:10 PM ET, Friday, March 21, 2014
Where: Scottrade Center, Saint Louis, Missouri
Officials: # William Covington Jr., # Sean Hull, # Bryan Kersey
Attendance: N/A

Wichita State 64, Cal Poly 37: Cleanthony Early scored a game-high 23 points as the top-seeded Shockers rolled past the Mustangs in the second round of the NCAA tournament in St. Louis.

Chadrack Lufile added eight points, five rebounds and a block off the bench for Wichita State (35-0), which will take on eight-seeded Kentucky on Saturday in the Midwest regional. Fred VanVleet dished out a game-high eight assists to go with four points for the Shockers, who became the first team in NCAA history to begin a season with 35 straight wins.

Maliik Love's nine points on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench led the offense for Cal Poly (14-20), which defeated Texas Southern 81-69 in its first NCAA tournament appearance in Wednesday's first round. Chris Eversley added six points and five rebounds for the Mustangs, who shot 20.7 percent from the field.

Cal Poly missed all but one of its first 15 attempts from the field as Wichita State used a stretch of 15 straight points as part of a 24-3 surge to open up a 30-8 advantage with 5:04 remaining in the first half. Early led the Shockers with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the opening 20 as Wichita State hit the break up 32-13.

The Mustangs would get no closer than 17 points in the second half as the Shockers continued to stretch their lead throughout. After Cal Poly enjoyed what was perhaps its best stretch of the game, an 11-3 run that cut the lead to 50-30 with nine minutes to play, Wichita State answered with 10 unanswered points, including four from Early and the Shockers coasted the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Wichita State recorded 17 assists on 23 field goals and controlled the glass 46-34. ... The Mustangs' 13 points at halftime marked a season low, while the 19-point deficit the Mustangs faced at the break was a season high. ... Shockers G Tekele Cotton, who came into the game averaging 10.8 points, went scoreless for the first time this season, attempting only one field goal.
Top Game Performances
 
Cal Poly SLO   Wichita St.
Maliik Love 9 Scoring Cleanthony Early 23
Jamal Johnson 1 Assists Fred VanVleet 8
Joel Awich 5 Rebounds Ron Baker 9
Reese Morgan 2 Free Throws Made Darius Carter 3
Maliik Love 3 Steals Evan Wessel 2
Reese Morgan 1 Blocks Kadeem Coleby 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Cal Poly SLO 37 20.7 5-28 8-18 5 31 1 7 6
Wichita St. 64 46.0 6-19 12-21 17 43 6 4 12