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. Nike Air Max Womens 90 Camo . His stated reason for abruptly resigning as head coach of Canadas Olympic womens hockey team was he felt there were doubts about his ability to coach the team to Olympic gold in February. Nike Air Max Womens 90 Green . It was the quickest three-goal sequence in Olympic history, with the latter two coming just eight seconds apart. Kessel, Lamoureux and Kendall Coyne all scored twice for the Americans, and Molly Schaus made 10 saves in her Sochi debut. http://www.nikeairmaxwomens90.com/. Striker Dario Mandzukic scored the opener in the 22nd minute but was given a red card nine minutes later for a reckless tackle and left Croatia with 10 men for the remainder of the match. Nike Air Max Womens 90 Gold . While he was away, it was the division-rival Baltimore Orioles conducting a little business of their own, scooping up Ubaldo Jimenez on Monday evening to a reported four-year, $50-million contract. Nike Air Max Womens 90 Red . -- First baseman Carlos Pena and outfielder Brennan Boesch have signed minor league deals with the Los Angeles Angels.GUELPH, Ont. -- Barclay Goodrow rewarded the North Bay Battalion for keeping calm despite an early deficit. Playing their usual choking style of defence, the Battalion waited out the Guelph Storm before scoring a late power-play goal in the third period. Goodrow then scored his 12th goal of the playoffs 2:30 into overtime as North Bay tied the Ontario Hockey League final at one with a 4-3 win Friday. It was the second straight night the teams had to settle things in extra time, with Jason Dickinson scoring the winner for Guelph in Game 1. Goodrow, who leads the Battalion with 22 points in the playoffs, positioned himself alone between the faceoff circles and made no mistake on Ben Thomsons feed from the corner, beating Storm goaltender Justin Nichols with a shot off the right post and in. Goodrow said t twice in the game to win. The Storm led 2-0 in the first period 3-2 in the third. "Thats the character weve shown all season. We get down but we stick with the game plan and we try and make the simple play and dont cheat for offence," said Goodrow. The Battalion also showed a lot of resilience after a game they thought they deserved to win the night before. "We lost a tough game last night and all year this teams shown a lot of character," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "We could have folded tonight. Its a tough building and a great team were playing, but they chose to go the other way. As a result, were going home 1-1." Nick Paul had a goal and an assist for the Battalion, while Marcus McIvor and Mathew Santos also had goals. Robby Fabbri had a pair of goals for the Storm and Steven Trojanovic chipped in with one. North Bays Jake Smith turned aside 21-of-24 shots for the win, while Nichols made 37 saves. Guelph head coach Scott Walker gave the Battalion credit for their effort, but added that the Storm still hasnt shown their A game. "Right now, to be honest, they want it more than we do," Walker said. "We have to put the work socks on and helmet, and get to work and see how it goes. Weere a very mature team with good leadership and well spend a couple days here at practice getting better and then see what we can do out there.ddddddddddddquot; Walker also noticed the Battalions ability to cut off a lot of the ice, as evidenced by the Storms 24 shots in the game. "I think were getting frustrated, were not used to not being able to have a little more creativity. Theyre skating, theyre working extremely hard against us," Walker said. "For the most part, we knew it was going to battle. You dont get this far in the OHL and not be a good team. I think we just have to look at each other and grab on and start rolling the right way." Things were going the Storms way early in the game, as Steven Trojanovics wrist shot from the boards hit Smith in the shoulder and dribbled behind him just 1:16 into the game. Despite not getting many shots, the Storm increased their lead to 2-0 when Fabbris cross-crease pass on a 3-on-1 got poked in by a diving McIvor. McIvor made up for that with just under four minutes left in the period, on the power play, with a blast from the point that clanked off the far post and in. The Battalion tied the game near the midway point of the second period, with Santos chasing down his own rebound at the crease and flipping it over Nichols. Fabbris second goal of the game at 15:57, his 11th of the playoffs, gave the Storm the lead once again. Zack Mitchells drop pass between his legs went to Fabbri at the right faceoff circle and he wristed a shot through a screen and past Smith. The Battalion pulled even at 14:32 of the third on the power play with Trojanovic in the penalty box for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass. Paul, who also added an assist on the overtime goal, snapped a shot over Nichols right shoulder from the top of the left faceoff circle to end the scoring in regulation. Guelph was 0 for 2 with the man advantage, while North Bay was 2 for 5 on the power play. The series now shifts to North Bay, Ont., for the next two games. Game 3 is Tuesday. ' ' '