Wichita State clinched a first-round bye in the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday with a 79-57 victory over Tulsa.

The No. 4 seed was up for grabs after WSU dropped a road contest to Memphis on Thursday, but the Shockers got some help from other teams to secure the bye in the conference tournament.

WSU dropped its first matchup of the season with the Golden Hurricane in heartbreaking fashion as Elijiah Joiner nailed a three-pointer just as the clock expired. This time, WSU knew postseason implications hung in the balance of the rematch.

“We knew the importance of this game,” senior center Jaime Echenique said. “Coach told us in the locker room that this game counts for two, because if we won, we would not have to play on Thursday. It helped us stay alive for the big dance, so we are just going to keep working and trying to do our best. Everybody knew how important this game was.”

A big key in the Shockers’ victory was sophomore guard Erik Stevenson’s second-half performance. Stevenson scored 15 of his 18 points in the final 20 minutes.

“He looked like the Erik from earlier in the year,” Head Coach Gregg Marshall said. “He had a little bounce to him. He was rebounding and getting in there in the fray. I’m just glad that he was able to rally.”

Tulsa’s Head Coach Frank Haith said WSU is difficult to defend because of the team’s numerous offensive options.

“I know he’s had some moments where he (Stevenson) hasn’t played as well, but I can only talk about what he did today, and he played great today,” Haith said.  “He made tough shots and drove the ball too — not just threes. When you have that many guys and when it’s your night, you make plays, and I think that’s what he did tonight.”

The Shockers have 23 wins heading into the conference tournament. Marshall said that as long as WSU plays well in Forth Worth and builds on its resume, they should be sitting in a good place heading into postseason play.

“We’ve got 23 wins. That’s a lot of basketball wins,” Marshall said. “I don’t know how many teams in the country have 23, but I bet it’s not 40 or 50. There’s 353 schools. So that is 23 wins — 24 would mean we beat UConn or Tulane. Twenty-five, that means we beat whoever you play in the semis, which is what I think is a lock. If we get 26, it’s a lock because you get the automatic bid. We just have to go down there, play well, and win as many games as we can.”

With Markis McDuffie and Samaje Haynes-Jones graduating last year, this season’s squad has faced its fair share of uncertainty. Ups and downs aside, Marshall said he’s proud of his young team.

“I don’t know how many people at the beginning of the year could have honestly said we should win more games than 23 with the 10 underclassmen,” he said. “I know there’s a lot of haters out there. I hear you because you know you guys are well documented, but 23 is pretty good.”

The Shockers currently sit on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and with more teams than usual in a similar position, the conference tournament looms large.

“I don’t know. I think we still need to go and win,” Marshall said. “I think losing to UConn or Tulane wouldn’t leave a very good taste in anyone’s mouth, but winning 24 games is going to give you an opportunity. It’s hard to win 24 basketball games before you get to the NCAA Tournament. There’s a lot of teams right there, and we’ll see how it breaks.”

The Shockers will play either UConn or Tulane on Friday. WSU’s game will follow the quarterfinal matchup between Cincinnati and the winner of USF and UCF. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside Dickies Arena.