WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State placed five Shockers in double figures and led wire-to-wire in an 89-69 win in its 2024-25 home opener Saturday night in Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State (2-0) held Montana State to 27.9 percent (12-for-43) from beyond the arc and committed just six turnovers to win its sixth straight home opener and 21 of its last 22. Montana State’s 43 three-point attempts are the second most ever by a Wichita State opponent, behind only Savannah State’s 55 in 2017.
Justin Hill capped an impressive opening week with a 17-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist night in his first official game in the Roundhouse. In his first two games as a Shocker he’s averaging 24.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
Harlond Beverly and Corey Washington added 14 points apiece, Quincy Ballard chipped in 13 points, six boards and four blocks and Ronnie DeGray III rounded out the leading scorers with 11 points and six rebounds.
Wichita State shot 52.5 percent from the field despite missing nine of its 12 three-point attempts. The Shockers were efficient at the charity stripe, going 22-for-26 (84.6 percent).
The Shocker defense collected seven more blocked shots, running their season total to 15 through the first two games.
The Shockers blitzed the Bobcats from the opening tip, scoring the game’s first 12 points and turning that into a 17-5 lead five minutes in. Beverly outscored the entire Montana State team by himself over the first 5:30, 7-5.
Montana State briefly pulled within eight at the 9:32 mark of the half only to see Wichita State rattle off 10 in a row to make it 33-15.
Five straight points from Hill, a Washington three-pointer and a monster alley-oop between Hill and Beverly in the final seconds sent Wichita State into the half with a 46-31 lead.
The Bobcats weren’t about to just lie down, however. A 12-4 run to open the second half pulled Montana State within seven, 50-43, just 2:24 into the half.
After a Wichita State timeout and two Washington free throws, Montana State splashed in a trey to make it a six-point game, silencing the Shocker faithful. The Shockers would stem the tide, pushing the margin back to double digits with 12:49 to go behind a pair of DeGray free throws.
The lead would never dip below 10 the remainder of the game, as Hill and company sent the Bobcats packing.
Up Next
Old conference rivals square off in Charles Koch Arena when the Shockers host Northern Iowa on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
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