For the first time since the 2021 season, Wichita State men’s basketball defeated a team ranked in the top 25 of the AP poll.
The Shockers led for a good chunk of their Sunday matinee in Charles Koch Arena and sent the game into overtime against the No. 14-ranked University of Memphis. In a rematch from over a month ago, lapses down the stretch from the Tigers in the extra period helped Wichita State secure the win against the conference’s top-ranked opponent, 84-79.
Wichita State head coach Paul Mills said he and the rest of the team didn’t put any “special value” on this game.
“I just think if you go about things like, ‘You’re going to let people put a number in front of you and say that that’s your value,’ and you capitulate to it, I just think you’re thinking about this the wrong way,” Mills said. “… If we play well, we can play with people in this league. And if we don’t play well, we can get beat by anybody in this league.”
With the win, the Shockers improved to 15-10 overall this season and 5-7 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). The Shockers are now riding a four-game winning streak, their first in conference play since the 2018-19 season. Memphis dropped to 21-5 overall, 11-2 in the AAC and snapped an eight-game winning streak.
Senior guard Harlond Beverly said to win in a game like this one, no single play decides the outcome.
“We outrebounded them by nine,” Beverly said. “Stuff like that — I feel like an accumulation of just those toughness plays really pay dividends.”
Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway said Wichita State came out and played like the tougher team.
“Tip your hat to Wichita for doing what they did,” Hardaway said. “They came out and fought really hard. Seemed like they wanted the game more than we (Memphis) did and they got the game.”
The Shockers couldn’t match the firepower of Memphis from beyond the arc, shooting just 19% on their 21 3-point attempts throughout the game. The Tigers, on the other hand, shot 39% from deep.
Free-throw shooting proved to be a deciding factor for the game as Wichita State sank five more of its untimed shots than the Tigers, including multiple critical shots late in the game.
The Shockers also only turned the ball over eight times during the game, compared to the 22 they gave up in their last outing against Memphis and outrebounded them by nine.
Senior guard Bijan Cortes said Mills told the team that the turnovers and rebounding were the key factors for victory.
“Going into (the game with) that game plan and really going out there and executing it and understanding that’s what we got to do to win,” Cortes said. “I think we did a good job of doing that and understanding what we had to do.”
Fifth-year guard Justin Hill missed his fourth-straight game with a toe injury. Additionally, the flu had been traveling around the Shockers’ roster in the week leading up to the game.
Wichita State started the game 3-8 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line but fell flat and went scoreless for nearly four minutes of game time after its start. Memphis used an 8-0 run to take a 14-10 lead during the Shockers’ scoring drought.
A driving layup from Beverly sparked a 7-0 run for the Shockers to retake the lead, 21-20. Hardaway had answers, however, as the Tigers immediately went up by four points, 25-21, following Wichita State’s run.
Despite Hardaway’s squad taking a four-point lead, the Shockers went on an 11-3 run over the final five minutes of the half to lead at the break, 32-28.
Even though Wichita State led at the break, the team shot a paltry 17% from beyond the arc compared to the Tigers’ 27%. Both teams shot at a 32% clip from the floor.
The Shockers won the battle of the boards, though, outrebounding Memphis by seven.
Memphis quickly found footing in the second half, tying the game at 32 less than a minute-and-a-half into the period. The contest became a slugfest, as the teams traded the lead nine times in five minutes of game time.
Wichita State played tight defense, but it may have been too tight for the game’s referees as the Shockers committed seven fouls in the first seven minutes of the period to put Memphis into the bonus.
The Tigers eventually ran out to an eight-point lead off of a 12-2 run, 53-45. During Memphis’ run, Wichita State gave up a 3-point basket and turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass which resulted in another splash from deep for the away team — all in the span of 20 seconds.
Mills said he had to remind the team that basketball is a game of runs and that Memphis was going to get their shots in.
“We’re going to eventually go on ours,” Mills said. “But we need to stay aggressive … for the most part, we just need to stay within ourselves … I mean, it’s been a resilient group all year.”
The Shockers gathered themselves, rebounding with an 8-0 run of their own to tie the game at 53.
Senior forward Ronnie DeGray III and senior center Quincy Ballard made the Roundhouse shake on back-to-back plays during the run. DeGray stripped an unsuspecting Tigers player and took the ball coast-to-coast for an easy layup. Then, Ballard threw home an alley-oop pass which caused an eruption of cheers from the home crowd.
The teams traded punches for the remainder of the game as Wichita State trailed by one possession, 63-61, with three minutes left. The boxing match continued into the final minute of the game until Memphis committed a blunder.
With less than a minute to play, the Tigers fumbled an inbounds pass while leading 71-69, which gave Wichita State a chance to tie the game. The Shockers missed their 3-point attempt to take the lead, but on the boxout, DeGray was fouled and earned a one-and-one at the free throw line.
DeGray cashed both attempts to push a tie at 71. Memphis’ senior guard Colby Rogers, who was WSU’s top-scorer from a season ago, missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer, sending the game into extra minutes.
During overtime, Memphis quickly got out to a four-point advantage which felt almost insurmountable. However, the Shockers scored nine of the next 11 points to take the advantage, 80-77. That run included a 3-pointer by Cortes to give WSU the lead.
Cortes said his shot was a testament to the trust and opportunities his team gives him.
“Especially Harlond (Beverly) who passed it to me,” Cortes said. “He told me to shoot it, so you know, I just let it go … it was an awesome feeling.”
Beverly said he knew the game was over when Cortes’ shot found the bottom of the net.
“The whole second half, we were kind of playing catch-up,” Beverly said. “That was a huge shot. As soon as that went in, I kind of knew this is our game.”
The lead Wichita State created proved enough as the team knocked down its free throws at the end of the game to secure the five-point victory.
Ballard was Wichita State’s top-scorer with 19 points while securing seven boards. Junior forward Corey Washington marked his seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Cortes contributed across the board with a season-high 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Next up, the two hottest teams in the AAC will clash when Wichita State hits the road for a Thursday night matchup against Florida Atlantic University. Tipoff against the Owls, who have a five-game win streak, is scheduled for Feb. 20, at 8 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN2.
