Senior Craig Porter Jr, junior Jaykwon Walton and sophomore Kenny Pohto put up 22, 20 and 28 points respectively as men’s basketball was able to hang on to defeat SMU in double overtime in a Sunday afternoon matchup at Charles Koch Arena. 

Pohto set his career high in points and pulled down eight rebounds. Porter tied his career high, contributed six assists and fouled out of the game.

“A win is always a win,” Pohto said. “But we’ve got a lot of stuff to work on for other big games and better teams.”

The Shockers spent most of the game in the lead but went into the half down 39-38.

SMU continued to put up a fight for the lead throughout the second half and it was Wichita State that had to mount a comeback at the end of the game.

Despite the win, head coach Isaac Brown was still critical of his team’s play, particularly their defense.

“We couldn’t guard them,” Brown said. “We didn’t defend well at all in the entire game except in the last overtime. I thought we didn’t make them feel us enough.”

Turnovers continued to be a problem for the Shockers. They average 12.6 turnovers a game and they lost the turnover battle tonight, 25-12.

“I watch college basketball games every night,” Brown said. “The teams that win games are the teams that don’t have careless turnovers. You cannot win if you turn the basketball over. We’ve just got to do a better job of valuing the basketball.”

Wichita State has five regular season games left before they head to Fort Worth for the American Athletic Conference Championship Tournament. The team is currently in the seventh seed with a 6-7 conference record.

The Shockers will play Temple in Philadelphia on Feb. 16. It will be Wichita State’s first meeting with the Owls this season. Temple is currently the fifth seed and are 8-5 in conference play. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on KEYN 103.7 FM.