Shockers dig out of 14-point hole to get revenge on Temple
No. 19 Wichita State defeated Temple 93-86.
Wichita State center Shaquille Morris grabs a rebound during the second half at Koch Arena.
No. 19 Wichita State had a two-point overtime loss hanging over their head going into Thursday night’s match-up with Temple.
The Shockers did not want to see yet another loss to The Owls, although the fate of the game looked like it would end that way.
The Owls were able to secure an early lead after their early scoring success took Wichita State by surprise.
Seven minutes into the game The Owls already had 21 points and held The Shockers to seven after an 11-0 run.
Wichita State was not able to stop Temple’s lights-out shooting which gave The Owls the edge they needed to get ahead.
In the first half alone, Temple hit 11 of their 15 attempts from deep and shot 63 percent overall.
By the half, Temple had a 14-point lead and scored 56 points on The Shockers—the most allowed in Marshall’s time at Wichita State.
“I was pretty frustrated, you don’t wanna be getting beat like that and giving up what we were giving up at home,” sophomore guard Landry Shamet said. “We didn’t play our best basketball in the first half.”
Going into the second half, The Shockers knew they had a 14-point hole to crawl out of. Shamet said his biggest thing going into the second half was maintaining his composure.
“Staying composed was my biggest thing,”Shamet said. “I try not to get too high or too low that’s kind of my thing.”
The Shockers entered the second half with a chip on their shoulder. Wichita State’s defense kicked into gear and their inside-out offense ignited.
In the first seven minutes of the first half, The Shockers were able to overcome the 14-point deficit and tied the game after going on a 6-0 run and holding The Owls to only three points in that time.
After four ties and five lead changes, The Shockers pulled ahead by two points in the final moments of the game.
The “cherry on top”, according to Marshall, was when senior forward Zach Brown got the offensive rebound from a missed free throw and got fouled on the play.
His two made free throws put The Shockers up by five, rather than it being a one-possession game.
“We needed a game like this, especially being down in the second half by 14 points,” senior center Shaquille Morris said. “Coming back and showing them resilience and coming back to get the win.”
Wichita State’s inside-out offense was the difference maker for The Shockers. It was led by both Morris and senior forward Darral Willis. Willis finished as the leading scorer with 24 points.
“The two bigs, we rode offensively,” Marshall said. When they play like that you can ride the lights of Darral Willis and Shaquille Morris.”
With Morris not only scoring 23 points, but also adding 13 rebounds, Head Coach Gregg Marshall said it was the best he had seen Morris play.
“It was maybe his best game as a Shocker,” Marshall said. “And he’s played a lot of good ones.”
Shamet said he knew The Shockers weren’t going to give up, and their resolve was something he had seen from the team all season.
“It’s something I’ve said all along, since the first game we played…We just have really good resolve,” Shamet said. “Guys never really give up around here regardless if its bad.”
The Shockers thought the energy in Koch Arena was the best they have seen it.
“Shocker fans showed up, they were hardy, they were loud,” Marshall said. “We needed every single one of them.”
Wichita State travels to face No. 5 Cincinnati on Sunday. Tipoff is at 3 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN.
Aliyah Funschelle was a sports reporter covering men's basketball for The Sunflower. She studied sports management at Wichita State, and worked as a Campus...
