A new era: Ricky Council leads WSU basketball to first win over Cincinnati at Koch
Ricky Council could be the face of a new era for Wichita State men’s basketball.
The 6-foot-6 freshman wing proved why on Sunday by scoring a career-high 23 points to lead Wichita State to its first win over Cincinnati at Koch Arena since joining the American Athletic Conference. Sunday’s 82-76 victory also snapped a six-game losing streak to the Bearcats.
WSU improved to 7-3 overall and won its first home game in American Athletic Conference play to remain one of four one-loss teams with a 3-1 AAC record. Cincinnati dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
“I told the guys, ‘This is your opportunity to put your name in the record books and be the first team to beat Cincinnati in Wichita,’” WSU interim coach Isaac Brown said. “They finally did it.”
The main reason why the Shockers finally vanquished one of their two AAC boogeymen? Council.
The freshman finished 8 for 11 from the field to go along with six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 23 minutes. He scored 15 of his points in the second half and was pivotal during the game-defining, eight-minute stretch midway through the second half when WSU outscored Cincinnati 24-7 to turn a 1-point deficit into a 16-point lead.
Council helped WSU fans begin to forget the agony that the Bearcats have delivered routinely at Koch Arena. In 2018, Cincinnati beat the Shockers in the regular-season finale to deny WSU a share of the conference championship. In 2020, Jarron Cumberland scored a three-point play with 3.5 seconds left to snatch a victory from WSU.
“He’s super strong and a freak athlete,” WSU leading scorer Tyson Etienne said of Council. “He’s probably the most athletic player I’ve ever played with. That’s why. He knows how to use his body and hang in the air. You’ll continue to see nice finishes from him. We can’t hide him anymore.”
WSU made a season-low three three-pointers, but the offense still hummed to an efficient 1.12 points per possession because it made 51% of its two-point shots and shot 23 of 34 from the foul line. Junior center Morris Udeze tied his career-high with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Etienne shook off a slow shooting start to finish with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Without Cumberland, Cincinnati’s offense proved to be less lethal. A frantic finish to the game helped Cincinnati salvage its overall shooting (43% from the field), but that mark was under 40% when WSU put away the game with the 24-7 rally. The Bearcats committed 15 turnovers, which WSU capitalized on by outscoring them 28-11 in points off turnovers. Topeka native Zach Harvey led Cincinnati with career-high 19 points off the bench.
It was an encouraging performance for Brown, who said WSU’s defense wilted in the second half in its loss at Houston when shots on offense weren’t falling. WSU battled through plenty of cold shooting stretches on Sunday to persevere for the victory.
“In the seven years I’ve been here, the teams that win and are so successful are the ones that still defend at a high level when they weren’t scoring the basketball,” Brown said. “They still defend at a high level, they still rebound at a high level, and they had the toughness to pull those games out. There’s going to be nights where you can’t make shots, but you you’ve still got to defend.”
WSU’s defense allowed the Shockers to hang around long enough to figure it out on the offensive end. Sure enough, Council was the spark that ignited WSU.
The freshman scored nine points during a 15-4 spurt that opened up a 10-point lead midway through the second half. He started the run with a strong finish inside, then scored on a smooth fade-away jumper after a spin move that led to a foul and a three-point play.
When Cincinnati clawed back to within three points, Etienne, mired in a cold shooting performance, finally broke free on the perimeter and drained a three-pointer. Seconds later, Alterique Gilbert (0 points, 2 assists) poked the ball loose on defense that sent Council streaking the other way on a fast break for a highlight-reel jam to bring the limited-capacity crowd to a roar and force Cincinnati to call a timeout, trailing 54-46 with 8:40 remaining.
“I feel really comfortable, not going to lie,” Council said. “I feel like I belong.”
The WSU lead swelled to as many as 16 points before a hectic finish by Cincinnati saw the Bearcats trim the final margin to six in the closing seconds. The Bearcats never had a possession within six points for the final eight minutes of the game.
WSU’s bench finished with a season-high 41 points, mostly because of Council, but also because of energetic cameos from Craig Porter (6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists), Clarence Jackson (6 points, 4 rebounds), Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler (4 points) and Josaphat Bilau (2 points, 2 rebounds).
“For (Council) to come off the bench and play the way that he did was amazing,” Etienne said. “I’m not surprised because I see him do it every day in practice. It’s good for him going into the rest of our schedule and good for our team because we’re going to need those kind of games from different people. Ricky was the one who stepped up today.”
The Shockers will stay at home for their next game, as they will host a Tulsa (7-3, 4-1 AAC) team that has won six straight games since falling to WSU in Tulsa on Dec. 15 for a 6 p.m. Wednesday game at Koch Arena.
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 5:45 PM.
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