No. 13 Wichita State 68, Illinois State 62: Ron Baker led the way with 19 points as the visiting Shockers avoided an upset against the Redbirds.

Fred VanVleet added 15 points and six rebounds for Wichita State (23-3, 13-1 Missouri Valley Conference), which earned its fourth straight win. Tekele Cotton contributed nine points and 10 boards while Evan Wessel scored 12 as the Shockers went 27-of-32 from the free-throw line.

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell buried three 3-pointers en route to 18 points as Illinois State (15-11, 7-7) dropped its seventh straight in the series. Reggie Lynch added 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 4:52 to play for the Redbirds, who lost their third straight overall.

Wessel’s 3-pointer with just under nine minutes left put Wichita State in front 50-39 but John Jones responded with five straight points for Illinois State and Akoon-Purcell tallied the next four as the Redbirds cut it to a two-point deficit. It was still a two-point game before Baker hit a pair of free throws and VanVleet raced for a layup to spread it to 60-54 as the Shockers closed it out.

Wichita State jumped out early with the first six points and never trailed before taking a 27-21 lead into the break. Illinois State cut the deficit to two points four times in the first four minutes of the second half but never managed to grab the advantage before the Shockers started to pull away at the free-throw line.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Redbirds leading scorer Daishon Knight handed out seven assists but was held scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting. … Wichita State dominated the glass, 40-26. … The schools were an identical 5-of-19 from 3-point range.