Jarmar Gulley, Missouri State.

Jarmar Gulley, Missouri State.

Unlike the first meeting between these two teams at JQH Arena on January 11, when Missouri State took Wichita State to overtime, the Bears couldn’t hit shots early, fell behind and could never get their way back into this one, as the 2nd ranked Shockers cruised to a 68-45 win.

Wichita State (31-0, 18-0) became the first team since Saint Joseph’s in 2004 to enter its league tournament unbeaten. The Shockers will have a first-round bye at the Missouri Valley Conference in St. Louis next week. The Shockers are off to the best start by a Missouri Valley team since a Larry Bird led Indiana State won its first 33 games and fell to Michigan State in the 1979 title game.

Jarmar Gulley scored 15 points to lead Missouri State, as the Bears missed 18 of its first 22 shots and finished shooting 31% for the game. Missouri State also missed the first seven attempts from three-point range.

Missouri State is 19-11 and 9-9 in MVC play, in what was their 1,000th game in D-I.