Illinois State knocked the Shockers from the top spot in the Missouri Valley for the first time since 2014. Wichita State started out with a 5-0 record in the Valley before a more-experienced ISU team dominated the floor in almost every stat category.

While WSU considers itself a young team, the focus of winning its fourth straight MVC championship hasn’t faded.

“We are definitely a young team,” sophomore forward Markis McDuffie said. “You might say I am a veteran, but I’m 19 years old. So I’m still young, I’m still learning, too, just like all these other new guys.

“I am just learning how to stay focused for 30 minutes, learning how to just be a leader, just making the right play.”

In their first game back since Saturday, the Shockers struggled early on the road against Evansville. WSU shot just 35 percent and trailed by as many as 13 with just over four minutes left in the first half.

A shot-clock malfunction gave head coach Gregg Marshall time to show his deep frustration with his team’s performances over the last 72 hours. The Shockers trimmed the deficit to three heading into the locker room and dominated Evansville in the second half, shooting 67 percent and coasting to a double-digit victory.

Junior guard Daishon Smith hinted that some of the problems result from their early leads this season, which have allowed them to get away with mistakes that would normally be costly.

“You can do things that you don’t normally do,” he said. “I think that allows us to have lapses on defense and miscommunication sometimes, but I think if we correct that, we can be a really good team.”

Consistency will be a big focal point in order to get back to the top spot, McDuffie said.

“We become inconsistent, we start winning a little bit, we start coasting,” McDuffie said. “We just have to continue to be relentless.”

Marshall shook up the starting lineup on Tuesday by inserting juniors Conner Frankamp and Shaquille Morris to replace Smith and junior Zach Brown. The move paid off, as Morris and Frankamp were the two leading scorers for the Shockers. The Shockers beat Evansville 82-65.

Morris led with 17 points and recorded his first career double-double by snatching 10 rebounds. Frankamp was perfect from his four attempts from three and only missed one of his shot inside the perimeter to score 14 points in the win.

“They’re definitely unselfish,” Marshall said. “They don’t care who scores; they just want to win the game.”