Fred VanVleet scores 27 in Shockers' win over Indiana

Omaha, Neb. (AP) — Fred VanVleet matched his career high with 27 points, Ron Baker made big free throws late, and Wichita State defeated Indiana 81-76 in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

By winning, the seventh-seeded Shockers (29-4) set up a much-anticipated Sunflower State showdown with Kansas on Sunday.

Baker scored 15, making 7 of 8 free throws in the last 2 minutes to allow Wichita State to hold off the Hoosiers (20-14).

Freshman reserve Zach Brown had eight of his career-high 11 points in the second half, with six coming during the Shockers' decisive run.

Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell scored 24 points for Indiana. James Blackmon Jr. added 14 points and Troy Williams and Collin Hartman had 11 apiece for the Hoosiers.

VanVleet scored 19 points in the first half to keep Wichita State close. The Shockers trailed by eight points in the first half and played from behind most of the game before going on a 15-3 run in the middle of the second half to take their biggest lead. Brown did much of the work, scoring off an inbound play, dunking and putting back Tekele Cotton's miss to make it 65-57.

The Shockers answered each time Indiana looked ready to come back. After Williams' 3-pointer cut the lead to 67-64, Cotton made a 3 of his own. After Hartman and Ferrell made 3s, Baker made four free throws to hold off the Hoosiers.

After Williams made a smooth move through the lane to cut it to 76-74, Darius Carter laced a pass through the lane to Cotton, who went up and under to make it 78-74.

Ferrell made a couple free throws to pull Indiana within two, but Baker hit a pair on the other end with 19 seconds left.

There was plenty of rough stuff. Bodies were on the floor often, and the fouls were hard. Just ask Ferrell, who slammed down on his backside after getting rocked by Cotton and got up with a grimace. The Shockers' Carter got popped hard in the face and lost a tooth.

The Shockers, who had been off 13 days since losing to Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, struggled early. VanVleet and Baker combined to start 1 for 10 from the field, Evan Wessell and Brown had lay-ins spin out, and Baker threw an outlet pass out of bounds.

Ferrell hit three 3s and scored 11 points as the Hoosiers got out to a 19-12 lead. The Shockers came back to tie it 23-all. But the Hoosiers, the best 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten, got a couple long shots from Hartman to drop and suddenly they were up again, 33-25.

VanVleet made 6 of his last 7 shots of the half. After he got fouled while banking one in high off the glass, he raised his arms to ask for more noise from the Shockers fans, and then he completed the three-point play to make it 37-36.

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Tip-Ins

Indiana: Ferrell has made a 3-pointer in 65 straight games, the longest active streak in the country. ... The Hoosiers won the only previous meeting, 75-54 in December 1989.

Wichita State: Coach Greg Marshall has won five of six against Big Ten opponents in his eight years at WSU, with three of those wins coming in the postseason. ... The Shockers are in the tournament for a school-record fourth consecutive years, and Cotton is the only WSU player to appear in four tournaments.

Up Next

Indiana: Season over.

Wichita State: Plays Kansas in the round of 32 Sunday.

By Eric Olson, AP Sports Writer. Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – March 20, 2015 @ 4:45pm.