Shockers can’t protect 11-point lead and NIT run ends in semifinal loss to Lipscomb

A seven-point lead in the final four minutes wasn’t enough for Wichita State.

Lipscomb roared back and scored 14 straight points, beating the Shockers 71-64 on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

It was a stunning end to the season for Wichita State, which led 61-50 with eight minutes remaining after a steal and a run-out by senior Samajae Haynes-Jones. It would be WSU’s final field goal of the game, as it missed its final 10 shots from the floor and went the final 3:46 of the game without a point.

Freshman Dexter Dennis led WSU with 13 points, while senior Markis McDuffie finished with 12 points on 4 of 15 shooting and Haynes-Jones finished with 11 points on 5 of 16 shooting. The Shockers finished the game shooting 35.3% from the field and just 21.7% (5 of 23) on three-pointers.

WSU (22-15) lost for just the fourth time in its final 18 games. Lipscomb (29-7) will face the Texas-TCU winner in Thursday’s championship game.

Lipscomb was led by senior Garrison Mathews, who scored 34 points and delivered the game’s biggest shot, a three-pointer that broke a 64-64 tie with 1:10 remaining, giving Lipscomb its first lead in 15 minutes.

A back-and-forth game saw the Shockers take a 64-57 lead into the final four minutes, but it took less than two for Lipscomb to erase that with a three-pointer, layup and two free throws.

WSU’s offense was able to find some clean looks, but it was unable to convert in the final four minutes. Haynes-Jones was forced to take several forced shots late in the shot clock, McDuffie missed four shots and Dennis misfired on a three.

The second half didn’t start promising for slowing down Mathews. After getting torched for 18 points in the first half, Mathews made a three-pointer within the first 30 seconds of the second half, extending Lipscomb’s lead to the largest in the game, 38-30.

But two straight jumpers from Dennis seemed to spark the Shockers. Haynes-Jones drilled a jumper, then free throws from Asbjorn Midtgaard gave WSU a 45-43 lead. Jaime Echenique scored on a short jumper, then Haynes-Jones connected on a step-back three-pointer that gave WSU a 50-43 lead with 11:58 left.

But another surge was soon to follow, as Haynes-Jones hustled to a loose ball and in one motion, secured the rebound and threw a pass ahead to a streaking Erik Stevenson for a thunderous slam dunk and 55-47 lead.

Minutes later, Haynes-Jones was at it again, drilling a jumper, then stealing a pass and dunking for the first time at the other end. The spurt gave WSU its largest lead of the game, 61-50, with 8:08 remaining and finished an eight-minute stretch where the Shockers outscored Lipscomb by 17, 27-10.

It was far from an ideal start for the Shockers, who missed 12 of their first 15 shots and fell behind 14-7 after eight minutes.

But for a five-minute stretch in the middle, it was complete dominance for WSU. The Shockers seemingly blocked every shot by Lipscomb in the paint and were playing with the confidence they earned from three straight road wins in the NIT.

It started with another tough finish by McDuffie at the rim, then Ricky Torres stole a pass, was fouled on the fast break and made two free throws. Stevenson scored on a back-cut, then Echenique finished a putback for an 8-0 spurt.

Haynes-Jones made a floater and McDuffie added a pull-up jumper for 12 consecutive points. Dennis followed with back-to-back threes that extended the Shockers’ lead to 25-18 with 6:01 remaining.

Instead of maintaining, or even building on its lead, Wichita State reverted back to its sloppy play at the start of the game for the final six minutes.

Lipscomb immediately drilled back-to-back threes, cutting the deficit to one, then Mathews made another three for a 27-26 lead with 3:45 remaining. Mathews made three three-pointers in the first half.

After falling behind by seven points, Lipscomb out-scored WSU 17-3 over the next six minutes for a seven-point lead. The Shockers were able to trim their deficit to 35-30 heading into the locker room, thanks to a basket by freshman Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler in the closing seconds.

The game, played on April 2, was just the second time in school history the Shockers have played a game in April.

This story was originally published April 2, 2019 at 8:21 PM.