BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Forty minutes separated Wichita State from the promised land.

Forty minutes and the Shockers would be the American Conference’s postseason champions for the first time since they joined the league. Forty minutes and a six-year drought at the NCAA Tournament would have ended.

But at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, No. 2-seeded Wichita State couldn’t find the same rhythm that gave way to a seven-game winning streak entering Sunday’s title match against top-seeded South Florida. Instead, the Bulls were the ones who stood at midcourt after the final buzzer sounded with confetti surrounding them, their ticket to March Madness punched. 

Wichita State suffered a crushing, 70-55, defeat in the highest stakes game the Shockers have played in recent memory.

Sophomore Dillon Battie and junior Will Berg led the way for Wichita State, offensively, scoring 25 combined points. Battie put in a team-high 15 and Berg clambered for 10 of his own.

Senior guard Kenyon Giles was held in check all game, scoring only five points on 2-of-7 shooting for his lowest output since an 18-point loss at Florida Atlantic on Jan. 15.

With the loss, the Shockers dropped to 22-11 and had their seven-game winning streak snapped. South Florida was announced as an 11-seed and will play Louisville, which garnered a No. 6 seed, in the first round of March Madness.

For now, here are three takeaways from WSU’s title match defeat:

50-50 plays that cost the Shockers

Minor mistakes, lapses or unmade plays usually take just seconds to occur. But those seconds in postseason basketball can decide seasons.

The Shockers understood that lesson firsthand against South Florida. They cut a six-point halftime deficit to one within minutes of the second half and looked to regain composure after trailing by as many as 10 points in the first.

But the Bulls rallied and stretched their lead above that margin with 11:16 left in the game, 51-41, and later went up by 13 points with a little over seven minutes to play. And most of it was from those kinds of swings.

Freshman forward TJ Williams coughed up the ball and fouled a South Florida player, which resulted in two untimed shots. The Bulls grabbed their own miss right after and made Wichita State pay with a 3-pointer to go up 43-37.

Back-to-back threes later for South Florida after corralling their own miss and a Giles miss, and the Bulls upped their lead to 10. A couple more turnovers and missed shots later and the Shockers trailed 57-44 with 7:25 left in the game.

They tried making a comeback, but South Florida kept its foot on the gas.

USF shuts down Kenyon Giles and WSU’s offense in first half

It’s no question Wichita State’s offense runs through Kenyon Giles, who’s averaged 19.7 points per game entering Sunday’s title match.

When Giles can get open looks and drain them, the Shockers are usually humming. That was not the case for much of the first half against South Florida. The Bulls repeatedly blitzed Giles, a 5-foot-10 guard, on drag screens and never made the floor feel comfortable for him.

The numbers showed. Wichita State’s offense was stagnant through the first 20 minutes of play, finishing the period scoring .839 points per possession to USF’s 1.031. Giles went 2-for-6 from the field and scored just five points. His final bucket was a last-second heave at the end of the half.

Sophomore Dillon Battie supplemented the lulls — including a 4 minute, 24 second drought and four-straight turnovers at one point — with nine points and three rebounds as the Shockers trailed 33-26 headed into the locker room.

And much of the same happened for Giles throughout the second half, as he didn’t score a point on five more attempts from the field.

What’s next for Wichita State?

There’s no guarantee that Wichita State will get invited to a postseason tournament but it’s not out of the realm of possibilities — especially after making the National Invitation Tournament last season with a 19-14 record.

That might be the best the Shockers can hope for now after their loss to South Florida on Sunday. The NIT bracket will be released at 8:15 p.m. Sunday, after the March Madness field is determined.

Wichita State has a slight advantage on its side when it comes to the selection process, as well. According to the NCAA, “The top two teams in the NET rankings not qualifying for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament from each conference, regardless of win-loss record, will be selected.”

The Shockers currently sit at No. 74 in the NET rankings, the third-highest ranking in the American. And because the Bulls punched their ticket for an automatic bid, Wichita State would be the second-highest ranked team left in the league.

Still, it’s not a guarantee, and if the team doesn’t get invited, their season would end in Birmingham.