A seven point lead with less than three minutes remaining was unfortunately diminished for the men’s basketball team in a 88-84 loss to the University of Missouri last night. 

“It hurts,” senior point guard Craig Porter Jr. said. “It hits the heart but I know that the guys we have, the coaches we have, we are going to stay positive no matter what because it’s a long season and it’s really just started so I mean we got a lot more left in us.”

With a little less than two minutes remaining, Mizzou took back the lead. Wichita State had a chance to take over the game but missed several free throws down the stretch. Mizzou tied the game up with 9.7 seconds left and took over the lead into an overtime period. 

The Shockers shot a season best 12 3-pointers and shot 54.1 percent from the field. Head coach Isaac Brown said it was his team’s 20 turnovers, missed free throws and lack of rebounding (41 total) that led to a Mizzou win. 

“To win close games like that you gotta rebound, you cannot give up second shots, you gotta get matched up in transition, you gotta step to the free throw line and make free throws and they did a better job than us of that,” Brown said. 

Brown said one way for his team to improve on rebounding is for the centers and forwards to snag more loose balls and rebounds under the basket. 

Currently, Porter, who is a point guard, is leading the team in rebounding this season with 50. Junior guard Jaykwon Walton is second on the team in rebounds with 43. 

“I told our bigs and I’m challenging those guys, you can’t let the guards out rebound them,” Brown said. “We need some big guys getting double-doubles. It’s not good for your point guard to be leading in rebounding.” 

The Shockers are now 4-3 on the season. Up next, they will play in-state opponent Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan on Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. The last time the Shockers played Kansas State was last season in a 65-59 loss. 

The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and on KEYN 103.7 with Mike Kennedy and Bob Hull.