Wichita State has had their problems with Temple over the years. Coming into the night, the Shockers had never won a game at the school in Philadelphia, were 3-2 all-time leading the series. After Wednesday night’s game in the Liacouras Center, the all-time series is now tied, 3-3, after a 65-53 Owl win.

The Shockers came out of the gates hot. Sophomore point guard Jamarius Burton was finishing his looks from the field, scoring eight of the team’s first 12 points. Even though much of the offense faltered in the first half, the Shockers still held the lead going into halftime, up 32-26.

Then the team started to play in a living nightmare.

Temple came out of the locker room after the break with more on-ball pressure. After a mix of turnovers, forced shots late in the shot clock, and a 10-second violation bringing the ball up the court, the team saw themselves in a hole. A hole they ultimately couldn’t get themselves out of.

The Owls started the second half on a 11-0 run, overtaking WSU for the lead – a lead they would never give up. Wichita State did not record their first field goal of the second half until the 15:21 mark, nearly five minutes in, on a Grant Sherfield pull-up at the top of the key. The team scored a measly five points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

For the game, the Shocker offense couldn’t ever get anything going, shooting 30.2% from the field, which included a low 22.9% performance in the second period. Behind the arc, the Shockers shot 14.3% (3-21) and missed all 10 three-point attempts in the second half. As for turnovers, the team coughed the ball up 15 times in route to the loss.

Burton and senior center Jaime Echenique led the way offensively for WSU. The duo combined for 36 points on 14-27 shooting, while the rest of the team tallied 17 points on 5-36 (13%) shooting. Burton finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Echenique led all scorers with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks.

For those who struggled, sophomore and leading scorer Erik Stevenson recorded a goose egg with zero points on 0-8 shooting. He missed all five of his three-point attempts and had three turnovers. Freshman guard Tyson Etienne also failed to score, missing all seven of his shot attempts. Sherfield finished his rough road trip with a five point game against the Owls on 2-6 shooting.

Up next, the Shockers return home on Saturday against Houston inside Charles Koch Arena. Tip is expected to be at 3 p.m.