Five times WSU answered back in second half to win in Stillwater for first time since 1957

No. 6 Wichita State reached rarified territory on Saturday afternoon with its 78-66 victory over Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Not only did WSU win for the first time in Stillwater in 60 years, but it also handed the Cowboys just their eighth loss on their homecourt in non-conference since 1989.

How did they do it?

“The guys continued to answer,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “Every time they made their move, we had a counter. That’s what it takes to win here.

“Obviously we know the history around here and how difficult it is to win here.”

There were five instances in the final 14 minutes where OSU seriously pushed for the lead. Let’s examine how the Shockers reacted in those five scenarios when it was a single-possession game.

1. OSU rattles off 9-0 run to take 39-36 lead with 13:58 remaining

Gallagher-Iba Arena was rocking after Lindy Waters receives a perimeter pass out of OSU’s Horns set, takes a jab step to get Rashard Kelly to take a step back, then swishes home a three-pointer to complete a 9-0 run for the lead.

WSU answers by running Landry Shamet through staggered screens at the top of the key, shooting Rashard Kelly to the rim to take one defender away, then relying on Shamet’s gravitational pull to suck two defenders his way. The play works perfectly, as Shamet finds Darral Willis standing wide open on the right wing for a three-pointer to stop the rally.

This kicks off a crucial stretch in the game where OSU scored on six of seven possessions, but it was WSU that ended with a 46-44 due to the play of Willis. When the Cowboys made their run, Willis had the answer four straight times (a three-pointer, a dunk, a pass to Shamet for a three-point play, then two free throws).

This was an unreal two-minute stretch for Willis with his ridiculously precise pass to Shamet on a backcut for the layup and a foul serving as the highlight.

2. OSU ties it back up at 46 with 11:25 remaining

WSU again lines up like it’s going to run Shamet through staggered screens, except this time he exploits an opening to penetrate on his own and forces Rauno Nurger’s man to vacate him on the perimeter to help with the contain.

Shamet reads this, plants his right foot, and immediately tosses it back to a wide open Nurger on the right wing. He’s able to catch, set his feet, and go into his shooting motion without a contest. The result? A swish to regain the lead, 52-49, and Nurger pointing his three-daggers at the WSU bench.

“We have really good resolve, I’ve always thought that about this team,” Shamet said. “In adversity, we don’t crumble or lay down. There were a lot of opportunities where we could have said, ‘Things aren’t going our way’ and lay down or give up. We don’t have any guys like that on this team. They come back stronger and more poised.”

3. OSU trims WSU lead to 50-48 with 10:18 remaining

You can’t tell on the video, but the referee actually sat the ball down on the baseline and started his 5-count because a WSU player wasn’t there to in-bound immediately. This entire play is disjointed.

It appears OSU is zoning the play, as Kendall Smith inexplicably hugs down on Willis for an unnecessary double-team to leave Frankamp with 15 feet of space by himself on the left wing. Frankamp was probably set to come off the staggered screens on the right side, but Shamet and Frankamp make eye contact and the in-bounds is fired through the heart of OSU’s zone.

Give Tavarius Shine credit. He does well to use his athleticism to get out to the perimeter, but Frankamp sends him flying by with a simple shot fake. Frankamp upgrades a good shot into a great shot with a quick side dribble to his right, which allows him to step into a three-pointer to extend WSU’s lead to 53-48.

Frankamp has been lethal on baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) plays this season, scoring at a 1.53 points per possession clip on 15 tries.

4. OSU cuts WSU lead to 53-50 with 9:37 remaining

I said this immediately after I saw it live: this is an NBA play by Shamet.

This play doesn’t happen without an excellent ball screen from Shaquille Morris at the top of the key that effectively sends Shamet into a 1-on-1 with OSU center Mitchell Solomon, who was icing the screen.

But Shamet’s skill set was on full display, as he catches Solomon off-balanced with a quick reversal of direction with an explosive between-the-legs dribble to get the ball to his right hand. He takes a low dribble to beat his original defender clawing down, then takes one last dribble to stabilize himself and brace for contact.

The result is Shamet finishing through contact for a three-point lead to restore WSU’s lead to 56-50. The play left ESPN’s pair of announcers shouting “Wow” in unison on air.

“He can play and he can score in a lot of different ways,” OSU’s Tavarius Shine said. “He’s a great player and he’s going to score a lot of points this season. It was a big challenge for us and we came up a little bit short.”

5. OSU rallies to within 57-55 with 8:02 remaining

This would prove to be the final time OSU was within a single possession for the final eight minutes.

Marshall once again calls for a Morris high ball screen for Shamet. Once again Morris delivers an effective screen and Shamet drags Solomon away from Morris with a sideways dribble. But Solomon is in no rush to get back to cover Morris on the three-point line. In fact, Solomon walks over even though Morris had made 6 of 12 threes entering the game.

Shamet recognizes this, whips the ball to Morris just right of the top of the key and Solomon is late on the contest. Morris splashes home a rainbow trifecta and gleefully points at the WSU bench running back down the court.

“That’s a shot you just kind of have to live with,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “If he’s going to be standing out at the three-point line shooting threes, he’s not rebounding, he’s not killing you inside and putting fouls on your bigs. But he makes the shot. Credit to him for having the confidence and courage to step up and make a shot when his team needed it.”

Oklahoma State pieced together an extremely efficient offensive performance against WSU’s defense for the first 12 minutes of the second half, but it could never break through because WSU’s offense operated at such a high level for the entire 20 minutes. The Shockers scored at 1.49 points per possession in 35 second-half possessions for its most efficient half of offense of the season.

This story was originally published December 10, 2017 at 4:39 AM with the headline "Five times WSU answered back in second half to win in Stillwater for first time since 1957."