In a matchup between the two hottest teams in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Wichita State men’s basketball extended its win streak to five games on Thursday night. The Shockers traveled to face off against Florida Atlantic University (FAU), who looked to continue its own five-game win streak.
Wichita State took the win, 75-68, securing its first five-game conference win streak since 2021. The Shockers are 16-10 on the season and 6-7 in the AAC. FAU fell to 15-11 and 8-5 in the conference.
The Shockers had their most efficient 3-point shooting night of the season, knocking down six of 10 attempts.
WSU started off the game with a 10-3 run while crashing hard against the boards, outrebounding the Owls seven to one within the first four minutes of game time. The Wichita State defense looked to be in the right place every time before the media timeout.
“We established our presence on the glass pretty early,” head coach Paul Mills said in his post-game radio interview. “We were plus-six at the half on the glass, (and) you end up plus-nine at the end of the game.”
After the timeout, the Owls regained their composure with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 12. 3-point shooting by the Owls provided ample scoring output despite a poor field goal percentage compared to Wichita State’s more efficient game.
“To be in a situation where they’re not converting at a high rate on twos,” Mills said. “If they shoot under 57% on twos, they (FAU) haven’t won a game this year. I think our physical presence around the rim helped.”
After missing the last four games with a toe injury, fifth-year guard Justin Hill made a return to the hardwood but suffered a non-contact injury by the 10-minute mark, slipping and falling to the court and missing the remainder of the game.
“As we shared with them in all of these road games, We need to be in a situation where you are going to have to play to exhaustion and then you have to dig a little deeper,” Mills said. “We were able to do that.”
Senior forward Ronnie DeGray III and senior center Quincy Ballard remained active on the offensive glass throughout the first half. While Ballard made his impact on the defensive end, the Owls defense limited his offense to mostly putbacks.
DeGray’s defensive hustle disrupted the FAU offense, adding to the block and steal column while denying defensive rebounds on the other end. He fueled a 15-0 run to force FAU’s second timeout of the game with 4:55 to go in the first.
Attacking strong on the inside, senior guard Xavier Bell and DeGray each contributed nine points in the first period. Senior guard Harlond Beverly also added an efficient eight points on 4-5 shooting from the field.
Wichita State closed out the half in the driver’s seat, leading 36-28 and shooting 48% from the field compared to FAU’s paltry 34%.
13 second-chance points pummeled the Owls down low in the first as DeGray had more offensive rebounds than any of the individual Owls had total rebounds through the first period. DeGray ended the game with nine boards, six of which came on the offensive end.
In the second half, vital signs for the FAU offense increased as they started the period 5-9 for field goals by the 14:38 mark to bring the game back within five points. Second-half adjustments by the Owls led to turnovers by the Shocker offense as the first-half efficiency waned, leading to ten points off eight turnovers.
“You’ve got to be more under control and play off of two feet,” Mills said. “The mark of a good team is when you’re in that situation (and) you can regroup.”
On the other side, Wichita State’s defense suffered death by a thousand cuts. Off-ball cutting by the Owls pecked through the post defense while leaving shooters open as Wichita State tried to adjust. FAU briefly regained the lead, 48-47, but a six-point swing by Ballard and Bell brought the WSU lead back to five.
As the game slowed down by the halfway mark of the second period, both teams regressed into their half-court offenses with senior Bijan Cortes reaping the spoils with two consecutive 3-pointers.
After a quiet box score night, junior forward Corey Washington hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 left to go, his first field goal of the game. However, his shot was quickly answered by FAU to make the score 68-65.
Washington scored five points in the game, failing to continue his double-digit scoring streak that dated back to Dec. 21st against Kansas State University.
The drama ended in the final seconds as Wichita State knocked down its free throws.
The Shockers’ highest scorer was Bell, who led all scorers with 24 points and made seven of eight foul shots.
Cortes contributed a career-high 16 points piggybacking off his previous career-high of 13 against Memphis. He added seven assists to his stat line.
Wichita State will return home to Charles Koch Arena to play against Tulane University on Sunday, Feb. 23. Tipoff against the Green Wave is scheduled for 1 p.m.
