Jeremiah Martin scores 37 for Memphis in victory over Wichita State at Koch Arena
If Wichita State has learned anything in its first two seasons in the American Athletic Conference, it’s that dominant individual efforts are far more common and can even trump good team performances at Koch Arena.
The Shockers learned the hard away once again on Saturday night as Jeremiah Martin continued his torrid scoring pace in February and delivered a game-high 37 points to help Memphis erase a 16-point, first-half deficit and knock off Wichita State 88-85 at Koch Arena. The Tigers improved to 17-11 overall and 9-6 in AAC play, while WSU (13-13, 6-8) found its recent success halted.
It was a bitter loss for WSU, which had won five of its previous six games and sensed an opportunity to continue its momentum with a win at home over a team that had struggled on the road this season. But Martin wasn’t having it.
After missing 7 of 8 shots in the first half, Martin torched the nets for 29 second-half points and five three-pointers in helping Memphis rally from a 16-point deficit. Martin is averaging 30.7 points in seven February games.
WSU coach Gregg Marshall will now have to wait one more game to win his 300th, as the Shockers saw an offensive performance that included 45.7-percent shooting and 10 three-pointers go unrewarded thanks to Martin, who made 9 of 19 shots and all 14 of his free throws.
Dexter Dennis and Jaime Echenique led WSU with 17 points each, while Echenique had a double-double with 12 rebounds. Markis McDuffie added 15 points, and Jamarius Burton scored 10 points and handed out nine assists.
It was a game of wild runs, as WSU built a 16-point lead in the first half, only for Memphis to ride the hot hand of Martin and take a 13-point lead in the second half.
WSU actually erased its second-half deficit with a flurry of threes, including back-to-back treys from Dennis and McDuffie and tied the score at 75-75 with 4:03 remaining, which sent Shocker fans into a frenzy. But the Shockers came up empty on their next four possessions, ending two of them with turnovers and two with contested jumpers.
Meanwhile, Memphis ran clock and managed to score on three of its possession. Two finished with a Raynere Thornton dunk and free throws from Martin, which restored its cushion at 81-75 with 2:22 remaining.
Still, the Shockers had a chance.
After Memphis split a pair of free throws, Erik Stevenson made a driving layup and cut the lead to 82-79 with 52 seconds left. WSU immediately fouled Martin, who made two free throws, but Stevenson answered back with a deep three to trim Memphis’ lead to 84-82 with 41 seconds left.
WSU was set to play defense and try to get a stop, but Stevenson committed a foul trying to guard Martin at halfcourt with 31 seconds left. Martin made both free throws for an 86-82 lead, then Samajae Haynes-Jones missed a pull-up three which all but end WSU’s chances of winning.
After trailing by 16 points in the first half, Memphis rallied and took a 48-44 lead within the first four minutes of the second half. Martin helped the Tigers rip off an 8-0 run that he started and finished with a three-pointer from the left wing.
That’s when Martin completely took over the game. He drilled another three that stunned the WSU crowd, followed with a steal and a dunk and then forced Marshall to call a timeout after he drilled a step-back three and stared down the crowd. He had essentially staked Memphis to a 58-47 lead by himself.
Martin drilled his fifth trey of the game that gave Memphis its largest lead of the game, 68-55, but WSU rallied back with a 12-2 run. McDuffie started the rally with a three, then WSU was able to convert after getting stops by pushing in transition, drawing fouls and making free throws. McDuffie capped the run with a three-pointer that trimmed Memphis’ lead to 70-67 with 5:53 remaining.
As far as the start, it was a familiar feeling for both teams considering their recent play.
For WSU, its hot play from a 21-point road win over Tulsa carried over into the game’s opening moments. And for Memphis, which has struggled mightily on the road this season, the Tigers missed 15 of their first 17 shots and fell behind 22-8 in the first nine minutes.
A Saturday night game on a national television broadcast seemed to inject Koch Arena with ear-splitting noise earlier than usual. After Dexter Dennis made his first three of the game that put WSU ahead 9-4, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway felt obligated to call a timeout before the game’s first media timeout to settle his team down in the noise.
The move didn’t work, as Dennis’ three was only the start of a 13-0 run for the Shockers. What was even better was WSU’s offense was generating looks close to the basket, as Haynes-Jones, Stevenson and Echenique all scored layups during the rally.
WSU’s lead swelled to as many as 16, 28-12, with 8:47 remaining in the first half, but Memphis was stubborn. It kept attacking the basket, and eventually those shots started going in and also racked up the fouls on WSU.
After missing 20 of its first 24 shots, Memphis made 8 of its final 11 shots to end the half. Thornton, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound mismatch and Kareem Brewton, whom WSU tried to hide its worst perimeter defender on, feasted in the first half. That duo, which entered averaging 16 points, combined for 20 in the first half alone.
WSU scored at a regular rate, but Memphis was scoring on nearly every possession. So it didn’t take long for the Tigers to cut that the lead single-digits. Memphis outscored the Shockers 24-12 in the final eight minutes, trimming WSU’s lead to 40-36 by halftime.
That felt a little too close after WSU outshot Memphis 44 percent to 34 percent in the first half. It proved to be a preview of oncoming onslaught from the Tigers in the second half.
Wichita State will look to continue its revenge tour with another home game coming up on Thursday against a Connecticut team that beat the Shockers 80-60 in Storrs, Conn. on Jan. 26, but has since lost five of its last six games.
This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 9:32 PM.
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