ST. LOUIS -- All those runaway wins, its hard for unbeaten Wichita State to pick a favourite. Blowouts have become the norm for the Shockers. It keeps them loose during games and after. "I cant remember which one was our best game, but if you think so, then OK," point guard Fred VanVleet said after the second-ranked Shockers encountered little resistance in a 67-42 rout of Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament semifinals on Saturday. Coach Gregg Marshall said hes got a "fun team to watch, a fun team to coach, a fun team to be around." He scoffed at naysayers who might criticize strength of schedule. "Who can find fault with 33-0? No, I take that back, I know people find fault with 33-0. I dont. I enjoy it," Marshall said. "Ive enjoyed it the whole year." Marshall wrapped up his postgame news conference by complaining about an exposed nail on the table at the podium that caused him to rip his jacket on Friday, and to point out that Tekele Cottons first name is often mispronounced. "Hes going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the second time in three weeks," Marshall said. "Its not Tekeel, its Tekale -- like the vegetable." Cleanthony Early scored 20 points with three 3-pointers and a pair of dunks and Wichita State began celebrating early in the second half. The 22-point romp over Evansville in the quarterfinals had a similar feel. "Our motto is to play angry," centre Kadeem Coleby said. "But at the same time were out there on the court smiling, and were having fun with each other." And making life miserable for the opposition. "They handled us," Missouri State coach Paul Lusk said. "Obviously, we had some guys go down but give them credit. It wasnt a whole lot of fun to sit through." Jarmar Gulley, who leads the team with a 14.7-point average, had five points in 14 minutes before leaving with a jaw injury. Keith Pickens was scoreless and played three minutes because of a groin injury. "Theyre two of our best guys," forward Christian Kirk said. "Thats pretty tough." Cotton also made three 3-pointers for the top-seeded Shockers, who matched the start by Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1979 before they lost to Michigan State and Magic Johnson in the NCAA title game. Wichita State will be heavily favoured against Indiana State or Southern Illinois to make it 34 in a row, which would match the NCAA-record start by UNLV in 1990-91. Players appear utterly unconcerned. "I dont know about exactly celebrating what weve accomplished, so to speak, as opposed to thinking about how great we are," said VanVleet, the Valley player of the year. "We dont really blow our heads up like that. We have fun throughout the process. "If you watched the game, you saw that." The Shockers, who last won the conference tourney in 1987, took control with a 17-0 run in the first half and topped it with 24 straight points in the second, scoring at will while Missouri State endured droughts totalling more than 15 minutes. "I want to win very badly, but I would want to beat you at cards if we dealt them tonight," Marshall told a questioner. "Thats just the way Im wired." Missouri State (21-11) gave Wichita State its closest call in the regular season, losing by three in overtime at home in January after squandering a 19-point lead. The Bears got away with 33 per cent shooting in the quarterfinals against Illinois State but were blown out shooting 31 per cent against the Shockers. Cotton added 13 points, and VanVleet had nine points and five assists. Gavin Thurman led Missouri State with nine points. Austin Ruder was held to four points on 2-for-7 shooting after going 6 for 12 from 3-point range and scoring 21 points in the quarterfinals. Wichita State went to the Final Four as a No. 9 seed last season and is closing in on a No. 1 seed this March. Early had his two dunks, celebrating a bit on the way back down court each time, and was among seven players scoring during the 24-0 run that made it 61-23 with 8:58 to go. The Shockers were 8 for 10 from 3-point range in the first half, with five of them coming in the 17-0 run. Marshall said it was actually 8 for 8 because the two misses were with the shot clock about to expire. "To us, its just a rush of excitement," guard Ron Baker said. Missouri State went more than 6 1/2 minutes without a point before Thurman scored in the lane with 2:13 to go in the half. The Bears trailed 33-19 at the half, their lowest first-half scoring output this season. Don Larsen Astros Jersey . No surprise there. Kershaw, who also earned the title after throwing his first career no-hitter in June, had a 1. Astros Jerseys China . -- Thirty years ago, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime, a game that remains the highest scoring in NBA history. https://www.cheapastros.com/1693o-ryan-pressly-jersey-astros.html . Al Harrington, another former Knicks forward, scored 22 of his 24 points after halftime for the Nuggets, allowing them to withstand Anthonys attempt to rally the Knicks after his poor shooting had them behind until the final minutes of regulation. Anthony finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, missing 20 of 30 shots in the Knicks sixth straight loss. Aaron Sanchez Astros Jersey . The Blue Jackets play Thursday night at New Jersey in their first game after the NHLs Olympic hiatus. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, Gaborik has represented his country at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics but was unable to play in Sochi because of his injury. Ivan Rodriguez Jersey . The Rangers centre left early in Game 1 with an upper body injury after being checked by Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver and has not played since. Brassard told reporters after practice that he was good to go. That brought a smile to the face of Rangers coach Alain Vigneault.Shane Green tries to pitch the New York Yankees to their fourth straight win on Monday when they open a four-game series with the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium. Green has been terrific for the Yankees since being inserted into the rotation two starts ago, winning both of his starts, while surrendering just two runs in 13 1/3 innings. He was marvelous in his last start on July 12 versus Baltimore, as he scattered four hits and struck out nine batters over 7 1/3 scoreless innings to get the win. Green, who will be making his Bronx debut tonight, is also the first Yankees pitcher to work at least six innings and allow four hits or fewer in each of his first two Major League starts "It was awesome, for sure," said Greene. "It means a lot. It means a lot that I got the opportunity, and it means a lot that I can come up here and help the team win." New York, meanwhile, came out of the break with an impressive three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds to pull within three games of the first-place Orioles in the American League East. The Yanks had lost five in a row before the Reds series. "I think its everyone involved," manager Joe Girardi said. "Its a team effort, because theres gonna be days where pitchers struggle a little bit. They pick them up offensively, so I think its everyyone.dddddddddddd Its gonna take everyone in that clubhouse to play better at home." Texas, meanwhile, continues to sputter and is a miserable 4-24 since June 17 and has dropped 10 of 11 after a series loss in Toronto over the weekend. The Rangers are 20 games below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2003 season 71-91. "Im not upset with the way were playing," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Those guys put us in a position to be able to win some ballgames. Weve just got to pitch better." Hoping to reverse their fortunes tonight the Rangers will turn to righty Miles Mikolas, who has not enjoyed the same type of success Green has since being recalled on July 1. Mikolas lost to the Los Angeles Angels on July 12, as he allowed five runs (4 earned) and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings to fall to 0-2 to go along with a 10.05 ERA. He had given up just a run in five innings before yielding four runs in the sixth inning. "He had 68 pitches going into the sixth inning; he was throwing well," Washington said. "I pull him out right there, what do I have to do? Get four more innings out of my bullpen? No, hes got to figure out a way to get through that." These clubs are meeting for the first time since the Rangers won four of seven encounters a season ago. ' ' '