Samajae Haynes-Jones, Jamarius Burton and Markis McDuffie combined to score 49 points to lead Wichita State past Catawba, 75-64, Tuesday night at Charles Koch Arena in an exhibition matchup.
Haynes-Jones led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go with five rebounds. Playing in his first game as a Shocker, Burton tallied 12 of his 16 points in the first half to go with five boards and three assists. He finished 6-of-7 from the field. McDuffie put his scoring skills on display after halftime with 12 points (14 overall).
Thirteen Shockers, eight newcomers, saw action in the tune-up that saw WSU collect its 25th consecutive exhibition win. The Shockers are 14-0 in exhibitions under head coach Gregg Marshall.
Wichita State finished the game shooting 44 percent overall, but made just 5-of-23 from downtown. Catawba didn’t fare much better at 3-for-15 from deep to go with 18 turnovers.
The Shockers missed 10 of their first 11 field goal attempts to open the game to help the Indians take an early 10-4 lead. Wichita State’s first lead didn’t come until the 10:17 mark of the half.
Neither team found much of a rhythm in the first half. WSU hit only 2-of-13 attempts from long range and just 39 percent overall. Thanks to eight offensive rebounds and 11 Catawba turnovers, WSU was able to remain in the lead or within a basket for much of the half.
Burton would come in off the bench and provide an immediate spark. Behind his game-high 12 first half points the Shockers would lead by as many as seven, before the Indians trimmed the lead to three at the half, 34-31.
At the 8:00 minute mark of the second half and the game tied at 51, WSU used a 9-0 run behind Haynes-Jones and McDuffie to open its largest lead of the game.
The lead would extend to 12 after a three-point play from Erik Stevenson and a Haynes-Jones step-back jumper with 2:45 remaining.
