Wichita State found themselves down early once again to Evansville. They never shut down but came back to beat the Aces 81-67 to move to 23-0.

Evansville came out on fire, hitting 10 of their first 11 shots.

The Aces extended their lead to 29-14, until Gregg Marshall responded by switching up the defense and attacking with a full-court press.

“They were just in such a good rhythm, and then we got a couple of 10-second calls and we were right back in it,” Marshall said.

The Shockers bounced back starting at the 9:23 mark. The team went on a 25-4 run and scored 7 points off of Ace turnovers.

Darius Carter capped off that run with a slam-dunk with 48 seconds left in the half. The Shockers went into the break with a 39-33 lead.

Starting the second half was a lot more of the same from Wichita State: good offense and defense. They extended the lead to 10 points after a Tekele Cotton layup.

The lead became 15 after a 3-point shot fromRon Baker with about seven minutes left in the game.

With 1:59 left, Darius Carter was fouled while shooting and made the traditional 3-point play to bring the lead to 81-62, the largest of the game.

Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet led the team with 14 each. Cleanthony Early added another 13 points and Tekele Cotton scored 12 as the Shockers rolled in front of another sellout crowd in Charles Koch Arena.

The upcoming week is arguably the hardest test for the undefeated Shockers as they go on the road to face Indiana State (Feb. 5) and UNI (Feb. 8), respectively the Missouri Valley second and third best teams.

“I love playing on the road, and I always feed off the crowd, and I love the challenge,” Baker said. “It’s almost like being backed up into a corner.”

“They will be amped,” VanVleet said. “We just need to exceed their intensity and we just need to play our best.”