No. 2 Wichita State 82, Northern Iowa 73: Tekele Cotton and Darius Carter combined to score 18 consecutive Shockers points during a decisive stretch of the second half as visiting Wichita State remained undefeated.

Cleanthony Early scored all 16 of his points in the first half for the Shockers (25-0, 12-0 Missouri Valley Conference), who remained one of two unbeaten teams in the nation along with No. 1 Syracuse. Point guard Fred VanVleet complemented Cotton (18 points) and Carter (15) with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Matt Bohannon scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers for Northern Iowa (11-13, 5-7), which fell to 7-2 in its last nine games against ranked opponents at home. The Panthers scored the first six points of the second half to nearly erase a 44-37 halftime deficit before failing to make a field goal for more than six minutes.

Wichita State took a 56-44 lead with 14:17 to play after a 12-1 run - highlighted by five straight points by Carter and capped by Cotton's 3-pointer. After Northern Iowa trimmed the deficit to eight, Cotton contributed a thunderous dunk and knifed through the defense for a layup to extend the margin to 66-52 with 7:34 remaining.

The Shockers received scares when Early fell to the court after a collision near the Panthers' basket 53 seconds into the game and appeared to be in serious pain while holding his right arm, but returned less than a minute later. VanVleet limped off after twisting his knee with 10:12 to go before returning in less than three minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Seth Tuttle recorded 16 points and eight rebounds while Wes Washpun scored 14 points before fouling out with 31 seconds left for Northern Iowa. ... Wichita State continued the best start by a MVC team since Indiana State, led by Larry Bird, took a 33-0 record into the 1979 National Championship game before losing to Michigan State and Magic Johnson 75-64. ... The Shockers, who entered the game 19th in the country with 39.6 boards per game, outrebounded the Panthers 40-24 en route to completing its season sweep of Northern Iowa after a 67-53 victory Jan. 5.