Wichita State men’s basketball came into Saturday afternoon’s game against the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) looking to win their first conference game and avoid allowing 91 points on defense for a third consecutive game.
The game’s conclusion brought good and bad news for WSU fans: UTSA scored only 88 points in their 88-75 home win over the Shockers.
For the fourth consecutive season, WSU is 0-3 to begin AAC play. The Roadrunners earned their first win to jump to 1-2 in the conference and 7-8 overall.
UTSA senior guard Primo Spears came into the game as the third-highest scorer in the country, but WSU bottled him up to score just eight points. Instead, sophomore guard Marcus Millender, who averages 10 points per game, torched the Shockers with 21 points, all of which came in the first half.
In the second half, Damari Monsanto took over for the Roadrunners, draining all four of his 3-point shots.
The Roadrunners knocked down 3-pointers on 50% efficiency, the second-highest mark by any WSU opponent this year. All three Shocker opponents in the AAC have drained at least 45% of their 3-pointers, something WSU has done just once this year.
Wichita State turned the ball over 16 times, its second-highest in giveaways this year. UTSA rejected seven WSU shots and scored 20 points off turnovers. The Roadrunners turned the ball over eight times, five lower than their season average.
In a reversal of a trend, WSU won the rebounding battle by 13, the best disparity for the team all season.
For the second consecutive game, WSU fell behind quickly, dropping down 10-2 early in the matchup. The Shockers never recovered from that deficit. They cut the lead to three points, 22-19, with eight minutes left in the half, but UTSA immediately answered with a 10-0 run.
Millender knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to deflate WSU and send UTSA into the locker room with a 15-point lead. Wichita State went 0-6 from beyond the arc in the first half.
The Shockers never seriously threatened to win in the second half, seemingly going through the motions at times. Five separate times, Wichita State cut the Roadrunner lead back to 15, but UTSA always answered with the exception of a meaningless WSU layup with 20 seconds left.
The Shockers found their shooting stroke in the second half, knocking down six threes, but the Roadrunners matched on what seemed like every trip up the floor.
The game got chippy with 3:30 left. WSU junior forward Corey Washington fouled Spears on a jumper, leading Spears to toss the ball at Washington’s head. That resulted in the players being separated by officials and coaches as frustration boiled over. A few moments later, both teams’ coaches got into it at the scorer’s table.
Washington, senior guard Xavier Bell and senior center Quincy Ballard were Wichita State’s only bright spots on offense, combining for 57 of WSU’s 75 points.
Ballard missed just one shot, and his 22 points were a career-high. Bell led the team with 23 points, his sixth consecutive game with more than 18 after not reaching that mark a single time in the first 10 games of the year. Washington added 12 points and seven rebounds.
On the other side, fifth-year guard Justin Hill continued a recent slump with three points on 10 shots, going 0-4 from three. Hill has shot 17% from the field over the last two games.
Senior guard Bijan Cortes had more turnovers (four) than points (three) and fifth-year guard AJ McGinnis made zero offensive impact for the third straight game by attempting only one shot. McGinnis is 1-11 from the field across the three conference games. Cortes, Hill and McGinnis each had a team-low -12 plus/minus.
Wichita State stayed in the locker room for more than 20 minutes after the game’s conclusion.
On Tuesday, Jan. 14, an AAC team will earn their first conference win when the Shockers play the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. If the Shockers lose that game, they will be the only winless team in the conference. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the Roundhouse.
