GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Jamie Echenique and fellow center Asbjørn Midtgaard took center stage in Wednesday's 76-70 win over third-seeded Furman at Timmons Arena in the NIT. Wichita State had to utilize its size to win and it needed every inch of its advantage over the Paladins.
Marshall claimed career win No. 500 (500-195 in 21 seasons) and the Shockers hit the 20-win mark for the 10thconsecutive season.
The sixth-seeded Shockers (20-14) advance to Sunday's second-round game (1 p.m., ESPN) at second-seeded Clemson. The Tigers (20-13) defeated Wright State 75-69 on Tuesday.
Echenique scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double-double this season. Midtgaard scored nine points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots in 16 minutes off the bench. The Shockers ran ball-screen after ball-screen to get their big men rolling to the basket and force the Paladins to guard them with smaller defenders or leave three-point shooters open. The big men posted up and they combined to grab seven offensive rebounds.
Coaches designed the offensive plan to help on defense. Wichita State wanted Furman center Matt Rafferty to work as much as possible on defense, guarding screens out to the three-point line and then recovering toward the basket, to get into his legs.
Rafferty, a 6-foot-8 senior played superbly, scoring 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds. He didn't get any rest on defense because the Shockers kept him moving with their screen-and-rolls.
Rafferty scored big. So did the Shockers center duo. Marshall feels better about the NIT after Echenique's bounce-back game. He struggled in the American Athletic Conference Tournament against Temple and Cincinnati. Wichita State won't advance far in the NIT without him contributing.
The Shockers turned the ball over 13 times, which meant they needed to win possession elsewhere. They did that by grabbing 14 offensive rebounds to convert 16 second-chance points.
In a close game, every basket seems crucial and Erik Stevenson did his part. He made his first three to tie it 31-all in the first half. In the second half, he made a three-pointer to cut Furman's lead to 49-48.
Stevenson led Wichita State' bench scoring, which totaled 25 points and outscored Furman by 22.
The Shockers scored on eight of their final nine possessions to turn a 60-all tie into a six-point win over the final 4 minutes, 32 seconds.
They leaned on McDuffie and Haynes-Jones, their seniors, to close. McDuffie scored six of those points and Haynes-Jones scored four, including a 15-foot jumper for a 70-66 lead with 44 seconds to play.
Burton passed to Echenique for a layup that gave the Shockers the lead for good at 68-66.