WICHITA, Kan. nfljerseyschinacheap . -- Wichita State will carry its pursuit of perfection into the Missouri Valley tournament. Cleanthony Early scored 19 points, Ron Baker added 13 and the second-ranked Shockers rolled to a 68-45 victory over Missouri State on Saturday, easily putting away a team that had given them fits this season. Relying on the same stubborn defence that carried it on last years improbable March run, Wichita State (31-0, 18-0) became the first team since Saint Josephs in 2004 to enter its league tournament unbeaten. The Shockers will have a first-round bye in St. Louis next week. Missouri State (19-11, 9-9) had them in trouble when they met Jan. 11 in Springfield, Mo., but the Bears blew a 19-point second-half lead and ultimately lost 72-69 in overtime. They never came close to making it a game Saturday, trailing by double-digits in the opening minutes. The Shockers are off to the best start since UNLV began 34-0 and lost in the 1991 national title game. Theyre also off to the best start by a Missouri Valley team since Indiana State, led by Larry Bird, won its first 33 games and fell to Michigan State in the 1979 title game. The Shockers last loss came in the Final Four, too -- to eventual champ Louisville last year. Putting this one away early gave a sellout crowd that had braved the threat of freezing rain ample opportunity to celebrate. Waving signs that applauded their unblemished record, fans packed inside Koch Arena serenaded a senior class led by Early that managed to elevate the program from a solid mid-major into a national power in the midst of a memorable season. Along with fellow seniors Chadrack Lufile, Kadeem Coleby and Nick Wiggins, Early gave coach Gregg Marshall a bear hug when he checked out for the final time in the closing minutes. Jarmar Gulley scored 15 points to lead Missouri State, which was dominated on the boards, in transition and just about everywhere else in losing its 10th straight against ranked teams. Unlike the first meeting, when it was Wichita State that stumbled early, Missouri State missed 18 of its first 22 shots, suffocated under token pressure and never got into a rhythm. When the Bears werent blowing layups, they were turning the ball over, leading to some easy baskets at the other end. Wichita State shot 57 per cent from the field in the first half, a big reason why it had built a 20-point lead just before the break. The trio of Early, Baker and Fred VanVleet picked up where it left off out of the locker room, Early scoring quickly and Baker hitting a long 3-pointer to keep Missouri State at bay. In fact, the only interesting moment of the second half came when Lufile was fouled with about 10 minutes to go. After missing his first seven free throw attempts, the big senior forward -- with the crowd rising to its feet -- finally got one to rattle home. Of course, it hardly mattered that Lufiles foul shooting wasnt perfect. Everything else about Wichita State is these days. nfljerseyschinacheap.us.com . When you think teams you imagine a group of people who all shop at the same jersey store and move together in a large pack with a common goal, which is usually scoring goals. But at these Olympic Games the idea of becoming a team in figure skating makes perfect sense because of a new event called, shockingly, the Team Event.http://www.nfljerseyschinacheap.us.com/ . They just probably couldnt have imagined how much. Blake Griffin had 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists Sunday night as Los Angeles stormed out to a 31-point lead in the first quarter with its All-Star point guard back on the court and pummeled the Philadelphia 76ers 123-78.Dwight Kings fifth goal of the playoffs proved to be the difference as the Los Angeles Kings downed the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 in Game Three to move within on game of a sweep and a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. King was a valuable secondary contributor during the regular season, putting up five goals and 14 points in 27 games after he was called up from the AHL, but he now has five goals in a dozen playoff games and getting that kind of production from a rookie in modest playing time (under 12 minutes per game in the playoffs) is yet another reason why the Kings are unstoppable right now. The Coyotes started strong, registering 11 shots on goal in the first period and scoring the games first goal, when Daymond Langkow found the net 1:03 into the second period, but they lost their momentum shortly thereafter. The Kings have barely played from behind at all in this years playoffs and only let the Coyotes hold the lead for 2:07 before Anze Kopitar netted the tying goal on a breakaway. In any case, the Kings outshot the Coyotes 20-8 over the last two periods, territorial dominance that pretty effectively sealed the Coyotes fate. Lauri Korpikoski and Taylor Pyatt led the Coyotes with three shots on goal, but it was more telling that Shane Doan and Radim VVrbata had none. www.nfljerseyschinacheap.us.com. That happened to Vrbata only three times all season, and none after December 14. (He had no shots in the first game of the playoffs too, but played only 30 seconds due to injury.) It seems a reasonable indication that Vrbata missed big centre Martin Hanzal, who was suspended for Game Three after a hit from behind on Kings captain Dustin Brown in Game Two. While Doan didnt manage a shot on goal, he did dish out a game-high 11 hits. In the battle of hitting captains, Dustin Brown delivered nine, while defenceman Drew Doughty had eight. The Kings once again had a healthy 28-19 shot advantage, even though Jeff Carter, Dustin Penner and Justin Williams all went without one. There hasnt been much indication that the Coyotes are going to present any threat to the Kings in this series. Over the last seven games, the Kings have killed 27 shorthanded situations and they have outshot Phoenix 116-70 through the first three games, so its hard to imagine what circumstances will be necessary for the Coyotes to mount a significant rally in this series. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. cheap jerseys' ' '
