Wichita State’s men’s basketball team pulled out a 56-45 win over the Southern Illinois Salukis Friday behind MVC defensive player of the year Tekele Cotton.

It wasn’t Cotton’s defense that sparked the Shockers, though. It was the team’s defense and Cotton’s offense.

“This is what we told our players going into this game,” SIU head coach Barry Hinson said, “‘We did not want VanVleet or Baker or the bigs to beat us because that’s what happened prior. We said we’re gonna make Cotton beat us today and quite frankly, that’s what it came down to.”

With about six and a half minutes left in the first half, the Shockers down 15-11, Cotton scored two free throws, a three-pointer, a field goal and two more free throws in less than a minute and a half. The Shaquille Morris’s dunk at the 4:22 mark in the first half jumped the Shockers lead to 22-15.

“It definitely adds another dynamic when [Cotton’s] aggressive and driving downhill,” Fred VanVleet said. “He’s definitely gotten better throughout the years, but especially this season, he’s taking what the defense gives him.”

Wichita State’s full court defensive pressure also helped spark the run.

“I think we came out a little flat, and then about midway in the first half we seemed to kick into gear,” Cotton said. “We put the full court press on them, and things turned quickly.”

The Shockers ended the game with 10 steals — led by VanVleet’s three steals in the game — but were able to force SIU into 18 turnovers.

“Any time we can press and speed the other team up and get the steals and start our transition game, it definitely gets us flowing and gets us energized and helps us out a lot,” Baker said.

At the 11:58 mark in the second half, only up six points, Cotton drove baseline and made a reverse layup for his 11th point of the game and 1,000th point of his career.

He’s the second Shocker this season to hit the 1,000-point club. Ron Baker did it Feb. 7 against Missouri State.

Cotton finished with 12 points and three assists.

“Tekele, when he decides to go north and south, he’s very effective,” head coach Gregg Marshall said. “He drove it in a couple of times tonight and scored around the rim, and it just puts more pressure on the defense when you have a third ball handler out there that can do that.”

The Shockers move on to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and will play the winner of Illinois State and Evansville at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.