Wichita State basketball trailed by as many as 13 points less than three minutes into the second half of its Sunday matinee at South Florida.
The Bulls had just flipped a 15-point first-half deficit into a double-digit lead and looked like they were going to run the Shockers out of the Yuengling Center and hand them their second straight loss to an American Conference opponent.
But nobody on the away team’s bench folded. WSU began to chip away at its deficit and eventually forced overtime.
The Shockers weathered the extra period to escape USF with an 86-85 win and split their games in the Sunshine State.
With the win, WSU improved to 11-8 overall and 3-3 against league opponents. The Bulls fell to 11-7 on the season and 3-2, snapping a three-game win streak.
WSU coach Paul Mills said in his postgame radio show that he was proud of the response from the Shockers. They’d just been blown out by 18 points last Thursday to a Florida Atlantic team that dictated the tempo from start to finish, but rallied to hand the Bulls their second loss against a league opponent.
“When you lose, you walk into that locker room and you want to play — can we tip it off in an hour?” Mills said. “I just watched them yesterday (Saturday), and they were chomping at the bit. And then I thought this morning (Sunday), I thought they were really locked in. … The response was what it needed to be. And (we) needed to make some plays late, and we did.”
And while senior guard Kenyon Giles finished the FAU game with a season-low two points on 1-of-5 shooting, he exploded for 22 points on 8-of-22 shooting, including five threes and the go-ahead bucket in overtime.
But it wasn’t just Giles who made an impact. Senior forward Karon Boyd added 17 points of his own, and senior guard Mike Gray Jr. tacked on 15. Junior center Will Berg grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end.
Even junior guard Dre Kindell, who scored eight points on 2-for-4 shooting, came up big. With the shot clock winding in overtime, he side-stepped his defender and splashed his final 3-pointer of the game to give the Shockers a two-point lead, 82-80.
“(There were) contributions by a lot of people,” Mills said. “We just didn’t rely on anybody. … Again, just the fight was what it needed to be.”
Game recap
WSU found its rhythm from the opening tipoff, going on an 18-2 run over three minutes of game time to open up a 12-point cushion, 20-8. Giles drilled two 3-pointers and Gray added one of his own as the Shockers went up by double-digits.
Sophomore guard Brian Amuneke opened up WSU’s 15-point lead with the team’s sixth triple at that point, 30-15, but USF began to mount its comeback after that.
For the rest of the first half, the Shockers were outscored by 14 points but maintained a one-point lead at the break, 37-36. The Bulls came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, turning WSU’s 15-point lead into a 13-point deficit after a 15-1 run to begin the period.
During the next 15 minutes of game time, USF found answers anytime it looked like the Shockers were going to seriously cut into their lead. The Bulls feasted on corner threes and got to the free throw line to hold WSU at arm’s reach.
But in the final two minutes, 41 seconds of the half, the Shockers went on a 10-4 run to tie the game at 77 and force overtime.
In overtime, the teams matched each other shot-for-shot until Giles poked the ball free with 20 seconds left and converted the go-ahead bucket to regain the lead, 86-85. WSU withstood the Bulls’ final attempt with 13 seconds on the clock to steal the win.
Box score breakdown
WSU — 37; 40; 9 — 86
USF — 36; 41; 8 — 85
Leaders
Scoring — WSU: Kenyon Giles (22), Karon Boyd (17), Mike Gray Jr. (15). USF: Joseph Pinion (21), Josh Omojafo (17), CJ Brown (16), Wes Enis (14).
Rebounding — WSU: Will Berg (15), Emmanuel Okorafor (7), Karon Boyd (7). USF:Izaiyah Nelson (9), Josh Omojafo (8), Joseph Pinion (4).
Assists — WSU: Kenyon Giles (2), Dillon Battie (2), Dre Kindell (2). USF: CJ Brown (8), Joseph Pinion (3), Josh Omojafo (3).
Up next
Up next, Wichita State returns to Koch Arena for a two-game homestand next week with games against East Carolina and Memphis. The first game against the Pirates is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. inside the Roundhouse.
