Just over a month ago, Wichita State men’s basketball was blown out by South Florida on its own home floor. On Sunday afternoon, the Shockers got some semblance of revenge, upsetting the Bulls on the road, 75-70.
The back-and-forth game saw 10 lead changes, with neither team going up by more than seven points.
Wichita State improved to 3-7 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), riding its first back-to-back wins in conference play. The Bulls dropped to 5-6. They came into the game perhaps tired off of a double-overtime win on Thursday.
The Bulls out-shot the Shockers from the field, but Wichita State made up the gap by dominating the offensive boards. WSU pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, seven of which came from senior center Quincy Ballard, while USF came away with just three. That led to 24 second-chance points for Wichita State.
“When you’re plus-20 on the glass … it’s pretty impressive,” WSU head coach Paul Mills said on the postgame radio show.
Neither team shot well from deep, combining to go 6-30 (20%) from beyond the arc. The Shockers controlled the game from the free throw line, however, scoring 24 foul shots in 29 attempts, their second-most made free throws this year.
Mills said he was impressed with Wichita State’s effort defending the three-ball, something the team struggled with earlier this year.
“I thought there was great urgency in order to get out to shooters, and we had to make some pick-and-roll adjustments, and I thought the guys handled that well, especially late (in the game),” Mills said.
Senior guard Xavier Bell carried the WSU offense, scoring 26 points — a Wichita State career-high against an NCAA opponent (Bell scored 29 against non-NCAA Friends University earlier this year). He did so on an inefficient shooting night, going 6-19 from the field, but went a near-perfect 14-15 from the line.
Senior guard Harlond Beverly returned to the WSU lineup after clearing concussion protocol. However, the Shockers were still missing fifth-year guard Justin Hill, who has a hurt toe, and lost freshman guard Zion Pipkin, who was out with an illness one game after setting a career-high in minutes.
Wichita State took its first real edge of the game with a 7-0 run to lead, 14-9. USF closed the gap, however, eventually going on an 8-0 run of its own to retake the lead, 36-30. The Bulls went into the break with a four-point lead.
The Shockers came out the gates hot in the second half, jumping to an 11-2 run and retaking the lead, 43-40. They extended the lead to seven points with 13 minutes to go, but South Florida quickly narrowed the gap again.
After both teams struggled to score for the majority of the game, the offenses caught fire midway through the second half. The teams scored on six consecutive possessions, ending with dunks on both ends of the court within a 20-second timespan.
USF had made just one 3-pointer in the first 32 minutes of the game. The Bulls knocked down two in less than a minute to retake the lead, 58-56, with seven minutes to go.
The teams traded the lead again, returning to a tie at 60. Then, the Shockers showcased strong finishing ability, putting in some tough shots and stifling the Bulls’ offense to take their biggest lead of the day, 69-61.
Coming out of a timeout, the Bulls got back under control. They stormed all the way back to cut the lead to one point with less than a minute left, forcing a WSU timeout.
On the ensuing possession, Ballard pulled down another offensive board before being fouled. He knocked down both foul shots, extending the lead to 71-68. Mills praised Ballard’s rebounding.
“I thought Corey (Washington) got a quality look, and Quincy’s two-hand rebound and put back with the foul, unable to convert it, but the two free throws were huge,” Mills said.
On the next USF possession, graduate student guard Quincy Ademokoya inexplicably lost control of the ball out of bounds without any Wichita State pressure, giving the Shockers possession.
From there, WSU knocked down its foul shots to close out the win — despite not making a shot from the field for the last four minutes of the game.
Most of Wichita State’s points came through individual efforts. The Shockers had just five assists, a season-low. Instead of passing the ball around, Wichita State players usually just drove to the rim themselves.
“It’s hard to get on the guys about just five assists on 24 made buckets, because … I thought everybody was pretty aggressive tonight,” Mills said.
In addition to Bell’s performance, Ballard, junior forward Corey Washington and senior forward Ronnie DeGray also contributed double-digit points. Ballard earned his fourth double-double in conference play.
Wichita State will hope to continue its momentum against the University of Texas at San Antonio on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena.
