The Shockers have achieved what only one other team has done by going undefeated, 34-0, this season.

“It is exciting, but it really hasn’t hit any of us yet,” Ron Baker said. “We have been focusing one game at a time. I think down the road in a couple of years we’ll look back on this and it will be very special.”

The Shockers defeated Indiana State 83-69 in St. Louis in Missouri Valley Conference championship game Sunday.

The University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) is the only other team to win 34 games in a season. It was during the 1990-1991 season.

The win did not come easily. The ISU Sycamores fought hard hitting three-point shots and layups, but three-point shots by Fred VanVleet and Tekele Cotton during the last few minutes kept the Shockers afloat. Both players went 4-6 from outside, contributing 44 points to the win.

“Coming down the stretch, I just was a little bit more aggressive and took advantage of some opportunities I had, and the ball dropped for me,” VanVleet said.

The win also marks the teams first MVC Tournament Championship in St. Louis after a 23 years draught. Their last tournament win was in 1987.

The Shockers got started with a 10-4 run to give them an early six-point lead with just under three minutes into the game. Indiana State retaliated with six points to tie the game at 10 with fewer than 15 minutes to go.

A 13-1 run got Shocker fans jumping, but then the tides changed.

With about five minutes left in the first half and with the Shockers up 31-18, the Sycamores went on an 11-7 run to put them within 10 points heading into the second half.

WSU Coach Gregg Marshall said there were some anxious moments in the game. But his team persevered in the end.

“It’s very comforting to have this group of young men on our bench, on the court, representing us in the locker room, in the community,” he said. “They’re quality individuals. They’re quality players”

Indiana State kept creeping back in the second half, starting with a 14-6 run. But back-to-back threes by VanVleet and Cotton extended the lead back to 10.

The team increased the lead to 65-50 on another pair of three-point shots with just less than seven minutes left in the game. Indiana State did not recover.

“[I’m] Just very pleased our guys were able to make the plays down the stretch to beat a very talented and very determined Indiana State team,” Marshall said.

Baker said the victory in St. Louis was the main focus before the game, not the undefeated record.

“We were just focusing in on three in a row here in St. Louis,” he said. “34-0 is great when you look at the big picture. It’s very exciting. I’m just glad we could pull this off for our fans.”