Dexter Dennis, Shockers catch fire to erase 24-point deficit for improbable win at SMU
It would have been easy to count out Wichita State with 14 minutes left to play in its road game Sunday at SMU.
In a game they desperately needed to win for their NCAA Tournament hopes, the Shockers were turning in a lifeless performance. The game looked over when Gregg Marshall called a timeout to stop WSU from being bludgeoned, down by 24 points. By ESPN’s win probability math, WSU was given a 0.02% chance of winning the game.
Then WSU showed the computers what that two-tenths of a percent looked like. The Shockers would hit a three, get a stop, hit a three, get a stop. Rinse. Recycle. Repeat.
And that’s how Wichita State outscored SMU 40-12 in the final 14 minutes to erase a 24-point deficit en route to perhaps the most improbable comeback in program history, a 66-62 victory at SMU on Sunday. There is no record for largest second-half deficit overcome, but it is believed to be the biggest comeback in WSU history.
The Shockers (22-7, 10-6 AAC) not only became the first conference team to beat SMU at Moody Coliseum this season, but they also broke the fourth-place tie with the Mustangs (19-9, 9-7 AAC) and grabbed control of the inside path to a first-round bye at the American Athletic Conference tournament.
Even more importantly for a WSU team squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Shockers collected a crucial road win, this one a Quadrant 2 victory, to bolster their March Madness hopes.
They can thank Dexter Dennis, who scored a career-high 25 points, including a career-high seven three-pointers and scored the final five points to close out the win. And they can thank Grant Sherfield, the freshman who returned after being forced to sit out a game to play one of his best games of the season with 14 points, including four triples, and six assists off the bench.
And even with WSU’s red-hot close to the game, it still shot just 38.3% from the field. The Shockers finished with 14 three-pointers on 38.9% accuracy and outrebounded SMU by 12, including 17 offensive rebounds.
When Marshall called timeout and WSU trailed by 50-26 with 14:32 remaining, the Shockers rallied behind the three-ball. Tyson Etienne drilled a three, then Sherfield followed and Dennis made two triples in a row for a sudden 12-0 run. Throw in a Jaime Echenique (seven points, 13 rebounds) basket and another Sherfield three and WSU scored 17 straight points to bring itself back to life.
SMU finally found life on offense again in the final four minute, but WSU had an answer every time. The Mustangs pushed their lead back to 58-53, but WSU answered back with a Trey Wade three-pointer then two free throws by Jamarius Burton to tie the score at 58 with 3:07 remaining.
SMU grabbed a 60-58 lead, but Burton scored again on a three-point play to give the Shockers a 61-60 lead with 1:14 left. Another lead change occurred, as SMU went up 62-61, but this time Dennis would deliver the final go-ahead basket for the Shockers with a three at the top of the key for a 64-62 lead with 39 seconds left.
The Mustangs had two opportunities in the final 30 seconds to tie or take the lead, but missed both. WSU put the game away on a press-breaking deep pass to Burton, who missed a layup but Dennis was there to clean up the miss for the game’s final basket.
SMU knew it had no answer to defend WSU center Jaime Echenique in its man defense, so SMU coach Tim Jankovich employed a zone defense for the entire game. In the first half, the zone worked to perfection as it disrupted WSU’s offense just enough to force misses inside and baited the Shockers into taking 19 three-pointers compared to just 12 shots inside the arc.
WSU actually took a 17-16 lead midway through the first half on a Jamarius Burton layup, but the final nine minutes of the first half belonged to SMU.
The Mustangs won the final nine minutes 21-7 and took a 37-24 lead into halftime, as the Shockers went ice-cold from the field. WSU made just 25.8% of its shots, including a putrid 3-for-12 effort on two-pointers.
Needing to throw the first punch out of halftime, WSU instead looked as if it received a death blow.
SMU pummeled the Shockers until Marshall had to stop the battering, as SMU outscored WSU 13-2 to start the second half and extended its lead to 50-26 with 14:32 remaining.
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 4:50 PM.
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