During the second half of Wichita State men’s basketball’s second-round American Athletic Conference Championship matchup, the Shockers nearly watched a 16-point lead crumble before them.
Wichita State, the No. 8 seed in the tournament, eventually pulled out the win against the No. 9 University of South Florida, 73-68, on Thursday afternoon.
WSU head coach Paul Mills said he knew USF was a tough second-half team. The Bulls came back to win multiple games in the regular season when down by double-digits in the second half.
“We had zero reservations about our lead being able to be withheld,” Mills said. “And it’s a situation where winning is hard, especially this time of year. And (I’m) just proud of our guys and how they handled everything.”
Mills said the team was able to maintain its composure throughout the second half.
“That’s what you have to have,” Mills said. “You have to be able to have poise down the stretch, you got to be able to convert free throws.”
WSU, now 19-13 on the season, will move on to the quarterfinals to face the conference’s No. 1 seed, the University of Memphis, on Friday afternoon. The Shockers ended the Tigers’ season in the conference tournament a year ago.
Senior guard Bijan Cortes had the best performance of his collegiate career. He dropped a career-high 20 points on 12 shots and added seven assists, more than double his per-game average. Cortes also didn’t turn the ball over throughout the game.
Mills said Cortes played aggressively, which brought out “the best Bijan.”
Cortes said he played with flat-out confidence.
“Especially with the people that I’m around,” Cortes said. “They tell me every game when I go out there, ‘Just be you. Look to score, be aggressive.’”
Junior forward Corey Washington led WSU with 21 points, his second-most on the season, pulling down nine boards in the process.
During a play in the first half, it looked like Washington tweaked his hamstring. Instead of taking himself out of the game, he dropped his second-most points of the season.
Mills said if the team had another tipoff two hours after the game against USF, Washington would be ready to go.
“Corey Washington is our best player in regards to stamina,” Mills said. “… He’s a tough kid. He can fight through things. I just ask him if he’s alright and I trust whatever answer he gives me.”
Senior center Quincy Ballard swatted five shots, his most since January, and led the team with a +16 plus/minus. During the first half, Ballard denied two shots on the same possession.
Cortes said Ballard’s shot-blocking capability helps with the team’s momentum.
“Just getting those blocks out and getting players like Corey to run out in transition with us and being able to hit him kind of helps out a lot,” Cortes said.
Mills said Ballard’s physicality was great during the game.
“I thought his presence was bigger,” Mills said. “ … And at the same time, he was able not only to block shots but alter them.”
All five WSU starters had an even or positive plus/minus, while the Shockers lost ground when the bench came into the game.
Wichita State knocked down nine 3-pointers — the second most the team has made this season. Washington, a 31% shooter on the year, contributed four makes on six attempts.
“I mean you have to shoot it (3-pointers),” Mills said. “ … And you can’t overthink it either.”
Wichita State rushed out to a 17-6 lead following a 12-2 run in the first half. The Shockers suffocated the rim on defense as they blocked four shots and forced six straight USF misses during the run.
Then it was the Bulls’ turn to go on a run as they stampeded for seven unanswered points to cut Wichita State’s lead to four, 17-13. The Shockers countered and regained a 10-point cushion after Washington threw down an alley-oop pass from Cortes, 24-14.
The teams later traded 8-0 scoring runs and Wichita State went into halftime with the lead, 38-28. The defense complemented the offense throughout the half as Wichita State forced four turnovers and swatted six shots to go along with a 43% shooting clip from the floor.
The Shockers opened up a 16-point lead less than four minutes into the second half after senior forward Ronnie DeGray III splashed home a deep ball from the right corner, 48-32. USF could never cut into Wichita State’s lead as the Shockers held onto at least a 12-point cushion midway through the half.
The Bulls later found life and cut Wichita State’s lead to the lowest it’d been since the first half following a 9-0 run, 56-49. USF kept clawing, eventually cutting the deficit to three points in the final four minutes of the game, 64-61.
Cortes extended the Shockers’ lead to six points, 67-61, after he converted a tough layup in the paint and knocked down the subsequent free throw. Mills said this play was indicative of Cortes’ performance all afternoon.
Down the stretch, Wichita State continued to sink clutch free throws to walk away with the five-point victory.
Tipoff against Memphis is scheduled for noon at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Mills said there will be no celebrations after Thursday’s win going into the game against the Tigers.
“I mean, you do your job (and) you move on to the next,” Mills said.
