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After four days of griping about the Shockers, Wichita State fans showed up Sunday ready to get on with the rest of the season.
Forgiveness might be going too far regarding Tuesday's loss to Evansville. At least fans came ready to give Wichita State's basketball team a shot at redemption against Missouri State on Sunday. The Shockers, after some nervous moments, worked their way back into the fans' good graces with a 66-64 win at Koch Arena.
"I talked to a couple people, and they let us know they weren't happy with us," WSU senior Clevin Hannah said. "But they know we're capable of doing good things, so they stuck with us."
WSU (21-6, 10-5 Missouri Valley Conference) showed off many of those good things in the final four minutes. After taking a 57-56 lead with 3:57 to play, WSU held the Bears (17-9, 7-8) scoreless until 29 seconds remained.
"We just stood our ground," Hannah said. "We knew that if they scored and took the lead it would be rough."
MSU never did, which is the way it seemed destined to go. WSU is 15-0 at home. MSU is 1-6 in MVC road games. At some point, the confident team started making plays and the team used to losing on the road stopped. Four of MSU's 12 turnovers came in the final four minutes.
"I definitely think it's a mind-set," MSU coach Cuonzo Martin said. "I think there were four of five (possessions) we didn't get a shot up. You've got to execute what we're trying to do."
WSU didn't execute perfectly to grab the lead. Just well enough.
MSU's problems started with Nafis Ricks' turnover against the WSU press. After the teams traded misses Ricks tried to drive and allowed Hannah to tie him up.
After a Shocker miss, WSU's Gabe Blair stole a pass. Then he got open in the lane for the best-executed play of the night. MSU's Kyle Weems came toward the free-throw line to help on defense, leaving Blair open in the lane. Hannah found him for a dunk and the fifth foul on MSU center Will Creekmore. Blair's three-point play gave WSU a 60-56 lead with 1:15 to play.
"Gabe is supposed to set a screen for Toure and get him open," Hannah said. "Gabe's man stayed with Toure too long and he slipped to the basket."
The Shockers finished off the win by making six straight free throws. They outscored the Bears 29-7 at the line and scored 21 of their 34 second-half points on free throws.
"That's a lot of free throws," Martin said. "But I guess those were the calls."
The Shockers dominated at the line, out-rebounded MSU by eight and held the Bears to three three-pointers until two desperation shots dropped in the final 12 seconds.
That is usually the recipe for a blowout. MSU, with its outside shooters blanketed, scored 30 points in the lane. They made six lay-ups in the first half and shot 56 percent from the field.
In those final four minutes, however, the Shockers managed to stop penetration and guard the three-point line.
"It wasn't a beautiful effort at all," WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. "The last four minutes, I thought, were much more aesthetically pleasing. You know how I like defense."
Hannah and Toure Murry led WSU with 15 points each. Kyle Weems led the Bears with 19, 12 in the first half. Guarded by several Shockers, he got only four shots in the second half.
Second-place WSU maintains a one-game lead over third-place Illinois State with three to play.
