Toure' Murry had 17 points and Demetric Williams came off the bench to contribute 12 as No. 2 seed Wichita State defeated the third seed Illinois State 65-61 in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Saturday.
The Shockers (25-8) are in the championship game for the first time since 1991 and will face No. 1 seed Northern Iowa in Sunday's final.
Garrett Stutz had 12 points and five rebounds for Wichita State before fouling out. Dinma Odiakosa had 15 points and Lloyd Phillips 13 points for the Redbirds (22-10).
Wichita State led just 55-51 when Murry drained a jumper with 2:05 left. JT Durley then hit the first of two free-throw attempts at the 1:40 mark. He missed the second, but Stutz rebounded and put it home to make it 60-51.
Illinois State closed to within 63-61 but could never get the equalizer.
