No. 2 Wichita State 83, Indiana State 69: Fred VanVleet scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half as the unbeaten Shockers claimed their first Missouri Valley Conference tournament crown since 1987 with a win over the Sycamores in the title game in St. Louis.

Tekele Cotton added 20 points and matched VanVleet’s 4-of-6 effort from beyond the arc as Wichita State joined 1990-91 UNLV as the only teams in NCAA history to begin a season 34-0. The victory, which likely removed whatever doubt the Shockers had of securing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, also allowed them to break the MVC record for consecutive wins to open the season after Larry Bird’s Indiana State team began the 1978-79 season with a 33-0 mark.

Manny Arop had 18 points and seven rebounds while Justin Gant also finished with 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line for the Sycamores (23-10). Indiana State leading scorer Jake Odum fought through a second-half right-hand injury to total eight points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Cotton drained a 3-pointer during an 11-0 first-half run to give Wichita State a 12-point advantage and the Shockers saw their 10-point halftime lead grow to 15 less than a minute into the second half when Ron Baker completed a three-point play while also injuring Odum in the process. Odum left the floor for a short time before quickly returning to inspire the Sycamores, who scored the next nine points and drew within 47-43 with a little over 13 minutes to go.

VanVleet and Cotton stopped the surge with 3-pointers and the duo combined for three triples during a 13-0 burst later in the half to extend the margin to 68-50 with 5:40 remaining. Arop scored five straight points as Indiana State made one final push to get within eight, but VanVleet hit a 3-pointer and a pair of late layups to hold off the Sycamores.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Baker scored 14 points while Cleanthony Early and Darius Carter had 10 apiece as five Shockers finished in double figures. … Although Wichita State saw its four-game streak of 20-point victories come to an end, the Shockers have won nine straight by double figures. … The Shockers, who shot 20-of-28 from the foul line Sunday, combined to go 42-of-65 from the stripe in their three tournament games.