Shockers clamp down on Dayton 64-58 in NCAA Tournament
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Wichita State's high-flying offense didn't get off the ground until the closing minutes, when the Shockers played like the more tournament-experienced team and pulled away to a 64-58 victory over Dayton on Friday night.
The 10th-seeded Shockers (31-4) won their 16th in a row - the second-longest streak in school history - by clamping down on defense and swatting away shots down the stretch. Wichita State blocked eight shots and held the seventh-seeded Flyers (24-8) to a season-low 31 percent from the field.
Zach Brown's 3-pointer put Wichita State up 51-45 with 5:38 left, the biggest lead by either team up to that point, and Dayton never threatened again. Landry Shamet had 13 points.
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Dayton had the experienced lineup, playing in its fourth straight NCAA Tournament with three senior starters. Point guard Scoochie Smith had 25 points.
The Shockers haven't lost a game since Jan. 14, going two months with nothing but postgame high-fives. They have relied on their offense to carry them, averaging 82.1 points per game. Feeling slighted by their tournament seed, they showed they can win other ways, too.
BIG PICTURE
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Wichita State: The Shockers scored 80 points a school-record 23 times this season. Their 64 points on Friday matched their second-lowest total of the season, but they won anyway.
Dayton: The Flyers were in the tournament for a school-record fourth straight season in large part because of their senior-led team, which includes three starters averaging double figures. Aside from Smith, nobody else did much. Smith was 9 of 17 from the field, the rest of the team 9 of 41 (22 percent).
UP NEXT
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Wichita State plays the winner of the Northern Kentucky-Kentucky game on Sunday in the South Regional.
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