TERRE HAUTE, Ind. DeAndre Levy . -- Cleanthony Early scored 19 points and Tekele Cotton added 14 as No. 4 Wichita State remained unbeaten with a 65-58 victory at Indiana State on Wednesday night. The Shockers (24-0, 11-0 Missouri Valley) extended their school-record winning streak and improved to 11-0 in conference play for the first time in school history. They have won three straight in the series. The only undefeated team in Division I is No. 2 Syracuse (22-0). Manny Arup had 16 points and Jake Odum added 11 for Indiana State (17-6, 8-3) which couldnt avoid a rare home loss. The Sycamores were 8-0 at home this season and fell to 40-11 at the Hulman Center under fourth-year coach Greg Lansing. Four of those losses have come to the Shockers. Wichita State led 50-39 with 12:34 to go. Indiana State got as close as 58-56 with 2:01 to go but the Sycamores missed four of eight free throws down the stretch. It was the first time a team ranked this high played in Terre Haute since Larry Birds Sycamores were ranked No. 1 during the 1978-79 season. And the festive crowd couldnt wait. Students began lining up more than two hours before tip-off despite chilly temperatures and 6 inches of new snow. When they got inside, almost every fan in the building was decked out in blue. But on the court, the emotions took a toll. The Sycamore shooters struggled, making just 32.1 per cent. Wichita State, meanwhile, didnt look sluggish at all despite having its arrival delayed until midday Wednesday by the winter storm. Instead, they started fast and finished it off by scoring the final seven points to pull away. In between, the Sycamores played valiantly. They fought back from an early deficit to get within 36-35 at halftime, and opened the second half by taking a 37-36 lead. The Shockers fended off that challenge with defence. It forced six straight missed shots and went on a 14-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 50-39 with 12:34 to play. But when Indiana State heated up again, it stormed back. The Sycamores scored eight straight to close to 52-50 just 3 1/2 minutes later and got as close as 58-56 late. They had a chance to tie it, but Justin Gant was too far underneath the basket for a layup. Indiana State never got another chance to tie it because of the missed free throws. Jed Collins . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Brandon Pettigrew . -- The Anaheim Ducks have recalled goalie John Gibson from their AHL affiliate in Norfolk.Every year around this time, that question gets trotted out once more: When will a Canadian win the RBC Canadian Open? Its a difficult question that has no answer, really. It will happen when it happens. To give it some perspective, a Canadian hasnt won on the PGA Tour since Stephen Ames captured the Childrens Miracle Network Classic in 2009. So perhaps the first question we ask should be - when will the drought of a Canadian winning anywhere on the PGA Tour end? For a Canadian to win the Open at home, it means having his game peak on one particular week, on a course they may or may not like, while being pulled in many different directions by media, sponsors and friends while defeating a field of international stars that wont be laying down just because a guy has a maple leaf on his bag. Its a tall order, for sure. "Ive played I think 100 tour events, or 99 tour events in my career," said Graham DeLaet, the highest ranked Canuck in the world, "and I have yet to win one so I guess it would have to be a little bit of luck for it to happen here, but I feel like Im close to my first win and thered be no better place to do it than here." "I think winning a PGA Tour event is difficult let alone to do it here in Canada for a Canadian," added David Hearn. "That being said, this would be a wonderful place for it to happen. Such wonderful history at Royal Montreal. It would be an amazing achievement and something special. So if its not me Ill be pulling for another Canadian to do it as long as Im not the one in second." Yup, there is some symmetry with all this. The last Canadian to win the Open on home soil was Pat Fletcher, who spent much of his career as the head professional at Royal Montreal. And this club was where this tournament started, back in 1904 when just a handful of professionals and amateurs teed off in the pouring rain. Canadians have come close in the past. One of the first Opens I covered was in 1988, when Dave Barr tied for fourth. He was the leader in the clubhouse on Sunday afternoon when a massive thunderstorm rolled in and stopped play. When it resumed on Monday morning, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and the wind was howling. I didnt think anyone could get in the house and defeat Barrs score but Ken Green did it to win. In 2004, Mike Weir came about as close to winning as possible when he lost in a playoff to Vijay p;Singh. Joique Bell. That was in front of a ramped-up crowd that more or less expected it to happen. It was as if there was a hockey game going on at the 18th green. Weir understands perhaps better than anyone what it would take for a Canadian to win. "To end it, you just have to play great golf," he said. "Theres good competition here and great players and you just have to play four solid days and you have to do what you can do as a player. You have to know your own game. You have to know your strengths and weaknesses and try to minimize the mistakes, but you have to have fun too." In 2011, the unheralded Adam Hadwin shocked just about everyone – including himself – by nearly taking the title. He was just a PGA Tour Canada member at the time. He says that the attitude every player needs to take is that anythings possible. "Why not?" he asked. "Its not impossible, thats the way you look at it. Obviously, like you said, I dont think anyone expected me to do what I did in 2011, maybe including myself. I might have surprised myself back there at Shaughnessy, but if you put it together, why not?" But perhaps to get a different perspective, we need to go outside the Canadian perspective. Jim Furyk won his national championship but says that for a Canadian to do it would be massively more difficult just due to the outside pressure that gets put on them. "Its hard to win a national open, its hard to win a big tournament," he said, "but any time one of those guys gets close it becomes such a focus, it makes it that much more difficult." However its not as if the non-Canadians wouldnt like to see it happen. Brandt Snedeker won last years RBC Canadian Open and his caddie, Scott Vail, hails from Oshawa, Ont. He saw the joy on his bag-toters face after they combined to capture the Open. "I can imagine winning a US Open what that would feel like to me," he said, "talking with Scott after last year, winning his national Open. It would mean the world to Graham or David or any other Canadian up here so if I cant win Im pulling of a Canadian to win because its a big deal for them and I know it would be special to see that get done." Will it happen this week? The odds say its difficult, but not impossible. But if nothing else, Id love it to happen so I dont have to ask the question again next year. ' ' '
