Friday, March 3, 2017

ST. LOUIS -- Darral Willis Jr. scored 17 points and Rashard Kelly added 14 as No. 21 Wichita State overpowered Bradley for an 82-56 victory in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals Friday night.

The second-seeded Shockers (28-4) shook off a slow start to beat Bradley (13-20) for the 16th straight time. Bradley, the No. 7 seed, hasn't beaten Wichita State since Feb. 24, 2010.

Darrell Brown led Bradley with 18 points, and Antoine Pittman had 13.

Wichita State shot 37.1 percent from the field (23 for 62) but dominated the boards, outrebounding Bradley 51-37. The Braves shot 38.2 percent from the floor (21 of 55).

Wichita State turned the ball over five times before making its first basket with 16:12 remaining in the first half, but overwhelmed the Braves over the final 8:30 of the period.

The Shockers, who got nine points apiece from Kelly and Conner Frankamp in the half, outscored Bradley 28-6 to close it out and led 42-16 at the break.

Wichita State's Markis McDuffie grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Shockers, attempting to secure their sixth straight NCAA Tournament bid, have been seeded first or second in eight straight MVC Tournaments and are 8-0 in those quarterfinal appearances. Wichita State won MVC Tournament championships in 1985, 1987 and 2014.

Wichita State advances to the semifinals Saturday and will meet the winner of No. 3 seed Northern Iowa (14-15) against No. 6 seed Missouri State (16-15).