Shockers roll, 102-46

By Associated Press     Dec 18, 2006

Wichita State's Karon Bradley, right, goes up for a layup in front of Maryland-Eastern Shore's Milutin Mirjacic. WSU rolled to a 102-46 victory Sunday in Wichita.

? P.J. Couisnard is usually the one setting up his teammates. This time, they fed him the ball – and some good-natured abuse.

“It’s easy to go perfect from the field if you’re shooting layups,” guard Matt Braeuer said after Couisnard was 8-for-8 from the floor and scored a season-high 21 points in No. 8 Wichita State’s 102-46 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Sunday.

But Couisnard also hit several long jump shots, including his only three-point attempt, in becoming the first Shockers player to break 20 this season.

He came in sharing the team assist lead (3.8 per game) with Braeuer, who had five assists to Couisnard’s two on Sunday.

“P.J. doesn’t usually get to shoot all that much, so it’s nice to see him have this kind of game,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “I was hoping he would get over 20, because he doesn’t shoot enough to get over 20 a lot.”

Wichita State’s win in the first round of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic was the third-most lopsided victory in Wichita State history. The margin of victory was the widest since a 105-46 win over Hardin-Simmons on Dec. 1, 1980.

Couisnard was 8-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line before he missed the second of two free throws with 7:15 left. He added two more free throws with 6:42 to go before sitting down with the rest of the starters.

It was the Shockers’ second straight perfect floor performance by a big scorer. Braeuer was 5-for-5 from the field and 6-for-7 from the line in an 83-69 victory at Wyoming on Dec. 9.

“Any night could be somebody’s night,” Couisnard said. “It was just a team effort. My teammates found me in the open spots.”

The Shockers shot 70 percent in the first 10 minutes and 65 percent for the game. They took their first 20-point lead on Wilson’s three-point play with just under eight minutes left in the half.

No. 5 Florida 72, Florida A&M 57

Tampa, Fla. – Lee Humphrey scored 15 points, and Walter Hodge and Taurean Green had 11 apiece, helping coach Billy Donovan tie Norm Sloan as Florida’s career victory leader. Sloan won 235 games in 15 seasons.

No. 10 Arizona 87, Houston 62

Tucson, Ariz. – Marcus Williams had 15 points and 12 rebounds to lift Arizona past Houston. Mustafar Shakur had 17 points and eight assists for the Wildcats (8-1).

No. 12 LSU 60, Oregon State 53

Corvallis, Ore. – Glen Davis had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and LSU fought off a late Oregon State rally.

No. 14 Connecticut 89, Saint Mary’s 73

Hartford, Conn. – Jerome Dyson had 19 points, and Jeff Adrien added 15 to help Connecticut (9-0) stretch its home winning streak to 28 games.

No. 22 Oregon 84, Idaho State 55

Eugene, Ore. – Malik Hairston had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lift Oregon past Idaho State. Oregon is 10-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season.

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