National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wichita St. 66, Drake 58
When: 6:05 PM ET, Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Where: Knapp Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Officials: # Paul Janssen, # Larry Spaulding, # Zelton Steed
Attendance: 4170

No. 16 Wichita State 66, Drake 58: Ron Baker scored a season-high 23 points and the visiting Shockers held on to win their Missouri Valley Conference opener.

Tekele Cotton matched his season high with 17 points for Wichita State, which won its 10th straight MVC road game to tie the program record. Fred VanVleet added seven points and Darius Carter grabbed seven rebounds for the Shockers (11-2, 1-0).

Jacob Enevold Jensen collected 12 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and three blocks for Drake. Gary Ricks Jr. missed his first seven field-goal attempts before finishing with 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting for the Bulldogs (3-10, 0-1).

Drake trailed by 10 for the first time after Baker sank a 3-pointer with 5:22 remaining but cut the deficit back to four twice and had two opportunities to get within two, but Jordan Daniels failed on a layup attempt and Reed Timmer missed a 3-pointer. Baker then converted a layup to extend the lead back to seven with 1:05 on the clock and the Bulldogs didn’t get any closer than six.

Drake trailed by four at the half and forged a 34-34 tie on a 3-pointer by Ricks with 14:04 left. The Bulldogs knotted it once more with 12:32 left, but Wichita State followed with a 10-3 run that was capped by Corey Henderson Jr.’s 3-pointer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cotton recorded his career high of 21 in a 29-point win against Drake in February. … The Shockers were forced to return to Wichita Airport and make an emergency landing when they departed for Drake after a sensor in the landing gear malfunctioned. … The Shockers avoided losing two straight games for the first time in nearly two years.
Top Game Performances
 
Wichita St.   Drake
Ron Baker 23 Scoring Jacob Enevold Jensen 12
Ron Baker 4 Assists Jordan Daniels 3
Darius Carter 7 Rebounds Jacob Enevold Jensen 15
Ron Baker 5 Free Throws Made Jacob Enevold Jensen 6
Ron Baker 1 Steals Jordan Daniels 2
Zach Brown 2 Blocks Jacob Enevold Jensen 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Wichita St. 66 40.8 9-17 17-23 11 24 7 3 5
Drake 58 33.3 5-15 19-28 11 31 3 3 7