ESPN Men's Basketball

WICHITA, Kan. -- Fred VanVleet scored 17 points off the bench, Carl Hall added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Wichita State took sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 71-56 victory against Drake on Wednesday night.

Malcolm Armstead had 12 points and Cleanthony Early 11 for the Shockers (21-5, 10-4), who moved a game in front of Creighton and Indiana State in the MVC standings.

Ben Simons scored 15 points and Richard Carter 11 for the Bulldogs (11-14, 5-9), who were outrebounded 45-29.

Drake fought back from a double-digit halftime deficit to trail 55-47 with 6:01 remaining, but Armstead drilled a 3-pointer, Tekele Cotton hit a jumper and VanVleet converted a three-point play to double the margin. The Bulldogs got no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Wichita State took a 30-16 lead into the break after outscoring Drake 18-2 in the last 9:37 of the first half.