The Aces closed the game out by making seven free throws over the final 1:25 on Sunday in their 71-67 victory.

“We were sloppy with the ball”, Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said, referring to his team’s season-high turnover total. “Twenty-two turnovers is the story for us. We had to do a better job against a good defensive team like Evansville.”

Colt Ryan had 24 points and eight assists for the Aces (11-6, 4-1), who won their fourth straight conference game.

“Colt Ryan is a very good player. We worked hard to defend him, but he’s a dynamic scorer”, Marshall said of Evansville’s third all-time leading scorer.

There were 16 lead changes and 13 ties in the game. The Shockers’ biggest lead was five points, while the Aces’ was six points. Evansville had a 27-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Malcolm Armstead had a career-high 21 points for Wichita State (15-2, 4-1).

The Aces had a big advantage at the free throw line.

“We need to get to the line more. 31 free throws to 13 is hard to overcome. Neither half did we get to the bonus,” Marshall said on the difference in free throw attempts. “We shot 54 percent from the field and 59 percent from 3 but we just had too many turnovers. Maybe it was fatigue. Our guys had to play a lot of minutes. But we just can’t throw the ball to the other guys.”

Troy Taylor had 12 points for Evansville and Ned Cox added 10.

“We competed for 40 minutes today,” Evansville head coach Marty Simmons said. “Our guys were very active on defense. I respect Wichita State and the way they do things. They are a real good team and are well coached. They had three starters out with injuries. To compete with them in the manner that we did we are fortunate.”

In the first half there were nine ties and 10 lead changes. The Aces took advantage of 11 turnovers to outscore the visitors 15-0 in points off turnovers in taking a 32-31 halftime lead on a basket by Egidijus Mockevicius with 10 seconds left. Mockevicius finished with nine points.

Armstead, who scored 15 points in the first half including three 3-pointers, was the difference for Wichita State in the first half.

Ryan had 13 points in the first half that saw neither team lead by more than four points.

The Shockers led 50-45 with 10:54 remaining on a 3-pointer Cleanthony Early, who finished 16 points, just over his 15.4 average that leads Wichita State.

The Aces went on a 13-6 run over the next 6:06 to take the lead. Two free throws by Ryan with 4:48 left gave Evansville the lead for good at 58-56.

A layup by Jake White with 26.4 seconds remaining cut the Aces’ lead to 69-67. However, his 3-point attempt with 5 seconds left to tie missed.

The post Colt Ryan, Evansville hold off No. 23 Wichita State appeared first on IdealCapper.

He bounced back to play again and Derrick Nix scored 17 points to help No. 22 Michigan State pull away for a 66-56 victory over Nebraska on Sunday night.

The Spartans — and Dawson in particular — held their breath early in the second half when the sophomore forward tumbled to the court in pain. He missed the Big Ten and NCAA tournament last season after tearing the ACL in his left knee.

“I was scared for a minute and said, ‘Not again,’ ” he said.

Nebraska’s Ray Gallegos was called for a foul when he trailed Dawson on his layup attempt.

“He really didn’t clip me,” Dawson said. “When I planted, the knee buckled.”

After Dawson was examined, he walked slowly off the court and later was able to jog back onto it.

“All of a sudden he came out running like Superman,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.

Dawson was cleared to return much to the delight of the fans, who gave him a standing ovation with ear-to-ear grins.

“I think my smile was even bigger,” Izzo said. “I was scared to death.”

Dawson showed his knee was very healthy in the final seconds, soaring to slam an alley-oop pass from Keith Appling for the game’s final basket.

Michigan State didn’t have much else to cheer about until late in what was a closely contested game for much of the night.

“I have no idea why we looked so lethargic and why we missed so many shots,” Izzo said. “I am very disappointed in the performance.”

The Spartans (14-3, 3-1 Big Ten) have won three straight and kept the Cornhuskers (9-8, 0-4) from winning their first conference game this season.

Nebraska, which lost its two previous Big Ten road games to Michigan and Ohio State by an average of 20-plus points, was very competitive for much of the game at Michigan State.

“We’re not in it for any sort of consolation prize,” first-year Cornhuskers coach Tim Miles said. “We want to win the game.

“Credit Michigan State, they made winning plays. We had a bad shot and two turnovers late that hurt us. We don’t have enough things going our way to make errors late in the game.”

Nebraska’s David Rivers was put in the starting lineup and had 18 points — two points from his career high — in a breakout performance for a player averaging 5-plus points a game.

“I was more focused,” he said. “I knew someone had to step up and it just happened to be me who made some shots.”

Dylan Talley scored 17 points and Gallegos added 12 while Cornhuskers center Andre Almeida was held scoreless. The Huskers were without Brandon Ubel, who missed the game with an elbow injury. The 6-foot-10 senior is Nebraska’s leading rebounder and third-leading scorer.

Spartans reserve center Adreian Payne scored 14 points, combining with Nix to score 31 points.

“Their big kids went 12 of 17 and our center was 0 for 4,” Miles said. “We need Andre to match those guys if we’re going to be successful.”

Nix broke a 50-all tie with a layup with 6:17 left and Appling later connected on three free throws to give the Spartans a five-point lead, matching their largest to that time. After Nebraska pulled within a point, freshman Gary Harris responded with a 3-pointer — after missing his first 10 shots — that put Michigan State ahead 58-54 with 1:49 remaining during a 14-4 run.

Izzo, though, was not happy.

“They played harder than us, they coached better than us,” Izzo said. “They probably deserved to win the game in every way.”

The post No. 22 Michigan State pulls away from Nebraska late appeared first on IdealCapper.