Wichita State’s men’s basketball team never led or tied the game during their 72-61 loss on the road against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Sunday.
The Shockers are now 10-16 overall this season and 2-11 in the American Athletic Conference. Wichita State has not won an in-conference road game this season. Charlotte is now 11-2 in the AAC.
Wichita State dug themselves an early hole as they gave up a 7-0 run in the opening three minutes of the game.
It took a jump shot by junior guard Bijan Cortes to stop the bleeding and give the Shockers its first points at 16:34 in the first half.
Four turnovers later, and Wichita State found itself down by 13 with 11:48 remaining.
Cortes made the only free throw of the half for the Shockers as he converted an and-one attempt, 26-19.
Junior guard Xavier Bell and junior center Quincy Ballard scored the last two shots of the half, and the Shockers went into the locker room trailing 36-25.
During the first half, Wichita State shot 25% from beyond the arc and at the free-throw stripe.
The second half was back and forth, each team popped off shots as the Shockers scored 46.67% of its field goals this half, and Charlotte shot 46.15%. Wichita State was unable to take advantage as Charlotte continued to find answers.
Senior forward Jacob Germany brought the deficit to six points with 7:30 left in the second half after he capped off a 6-0 run with a layup, 58-52.
Redshirt junior guard Colby Rogers converted a couple of free throws to bring the game to 68-61 with 2:02 left to play.
Wichita State took its 11-point loss as Charlotte iced the clock.
Wichita State shot below 50% from the free-throw line throughout the game, at 43.8%. Charlotte was better able to capitalize in their trips from to the stripe, shooting 73.9% during the game, gaining an easy 10 points over the Shockers.
Charlotte made the most from turning defense to offense as they scored 12 points off turnovers compared to Wichita State’s three.
The Shockers’ top scorer for the game was Bell, who came off the bench and scored 16 points. Ballard went 5/6 from the field and ended the game with 11 points.
As the final three weeks of the regular season commences, Wichita State will look to bounce back from its third straight loss in their game on Wednesday against the University of Tulsa. The scheduled tipoff is at 8 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena.
