Wichita State basketball beats defending conference champions for AAC-opening road win
The Wichita State men’s basketball team is 1-0 in the American Athletic Conference after knocking off a team that finished in a three-way tie for the league title last season.
The Shockers built a 17-point lead on the road, nearly allowed it to slip away, then made enough winning plays down the stretch to secure a 69-65 victory over Tulsa on Tuesday evening at the Reynolds Center. It was the conference opener for both teams, as WSU improved to 2-2 overall and Tulsa fell to 1-3.
“These road games really count as two,” said WSU point guard Alterique Gilbert, a graduate transfer from Connecticut who has played the last four seasons in the AAC. “Coming in here and getting a road win is very tough. We knew we had to have a big game and to get the win is a great team feeling. We’re going to use that momentum and stay in the gym and keep working.”
WSU featured a balanced scoring attack, as four players scored in double-digits with Ricky Council (13 points), Gilbert (13), Trey Wade (11) and Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler (10). The Shockers scored 33 bench points one game after being dominated 38-5 in that category in a loss to Oklahoma State.
It was a breakout performance by Council, a 6-foot-6 freshman wing from Durham, North Carolina, playing in just his third game in a Shocker uniform. The freshman led WSU in points (13) and rebounds (8) in 16 minutes off the bench.
“I’ve just been waiting for my opportunity to shine and I feel like tonight I helped my team on both the offensive and defensive end,” Council said.
“I wouldn’t say it really surprises me. I’ve been doing this my whole life. The fact that we got the win and I put up those numbers, it feels pretty great. But I’m not really surprised, more excited.”
WSU had to survive some nervous moments in the final 90 seconds, as the Shockers gave up offensive rebounds, committed a turnover and missed free throws that allowed Tulsa to rally to within 67-65 with 28 seconds left. And the Golden Hurricane could have done even better if not for missing five of eight free throws in the final three minutes.
“I thought when we got back in the game, there were so many possessions when we had a chance to either tie it up or get even closer and we took a tough shot,” Tulsa coach Frank Haith said. “We took 31 3s and I don’t think that’s who we are as a basketball team.”
Even then, Tulsa still had a look at a game-tying three-pointer with 10 seconds left, but Keyshawn Embery-Simpson missed and Tyson Etienne rebounded and made one of two free throws to secure the win. Etienne entered averaging a team-high 19.7 points, but was plagued by foul trouble the entire game and finished with just four points on 1 of 5 shooting.
“Tulsa is a good basketball team and they’re the defending champions and they’re well-coached, so I knew they were going to keep fighting and battle back,” WSU interim coach Isaac Brown said.
After falling behind by as many as 17 points late in the first half, Tulsa roared back with a 16-4 run to start the second half and trimmed WSU’s lead to 47-45 with more than 14 minutes still remaining. The Shockers only committed two first-half turnovers, but had three turnovers on its first seven possessions of the second half to help Tulsa’s run.
With Tulsa threatening, that’s when Council took over for the Shockers.
He crashed the glass and pulled away an offensive rebound, then went up for a two-handed slam dunk to bring momentum back to WSU. On the next possession, Council whipped a no-look pass inside to Wade, who finished with another slam. Council capped a 6-0 run with an improbable step-back heave to beat the shot clock and restore WSU’s lead to 56-47 with 10:24 remaining.
“It’s hard to believe,” WSU junior Craig Porter said about Council being just a freshman. “He’s a baby around here, but he’s getting the job done like he’s a grown man.”
When Tulsa rallied again, this time drawing to within 58-55 with 8:24 remaining, it was Gilbert who restored the cushion for the Shockers. The graduate transfer from Connecticut converted a tough, contested jumper along the baseline to beat the shot clock, then drilled a corner three to push WSU’s lead to 63-55 with 7:04 left.
Porter delivered a crucial shot for WSU on a step-back three to beat the shot clock to extend the lead to 66-58 with 3:40 remaining. It was the first points in a Shocker uniform for Porter, a junior-college transfer playing in his second game who finished with four points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists in 25 minutes off the bench.
“It really felt the same to me,” said Porter, who won a NJCAA national championship his first year in college at Vincennes (Ind.). “I had a lot of pressure (at Vincennes) being the youngest on my team and being a starter. I’m used to tough situations and I know how to make the right play and be able to deliver for my team is something that’s natural to me.”
It was the first strong start to a game this season for the Shockers.
After falling behind 11-4 to Missouri and 9-4 to Oklahoma State after the first media timeout, WSU had its first strong start of the season. Gilbert, Wade and Udeze made three shots in a row to give WSU a 7-0 advantage in the first 90 seconds and the Shockers took a 15-7 lead into the first media timeout.
With Tulsa still hanging around late in the first half, trailing 33-26 with 3:30 remaining, WSU reeled off a 10-0 run over the next two minutes from two bench players — Council and Poor Bear-Chandler.
Council started the run with a wing three, then Poor Bear-Chandler followed with a tip-in on a Council miss and then a rainbow three from the top of the key to force a Tulsa timeout. Council made it a 10-0 run to put WSU up 43-26 with 1:33 remaining when he finished on a fast break.
WSU went into halftime with a 43-29 lead, thanks to nine points apiece from Council and Poor Bear-Chandler. After struggling shooting the season’s first three games, WSU made 45% of its shots from the field and half of its three-pointers (7 of 14).
“This win is huge for us,” Brown said. “Now these guys understand what it takes to win on the road. We tell them every day in order to win on the road you’ve got to defend at a high level, rebound at a high level and you’ve got to play with toughness and play smart. We were a smart basketball team tonight and we defended at a high level and we even got some loose balls. I’m so proud of our guys tonight.”
Tulsa was playing in its first game in 11 days after postponing both of its games last week due to a positive COVID-19 test in the program. The Golden Hurricane were only able to practice once before Tuesday’s game.
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 8:15 PM.
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