Shockers survive: Wichita State basketball keeps AAC title, NCAA tourney hopes alive
The whistle blew and Tyson Etienne, physically and mentally exhausted, stood rooted to the spot 15 feet away from the basket, where he knew he could potentially decide Wichita State’s fate.
South Florida was trying to ice the American Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year by calling timeout, and Etienne wouldn’t budge from the foul line until he was told he had to go to his team’s huddle.
“I was meditating. Just staying present, staying in the moment,” Etienne said. “I know what icing does. It tries to take you out of your rhythm. That’s why I stayed until they told me I had to leave. I was going to stay the whole time.”
Etienne’s mental strength prevailed in the end, as he hit the go-ahead shot with 8.9 seconds remaining to lift the Shockers men’s basketball team to yet another improbable victory, this one a 68-67 win over South Florida in the AAC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday at Dickies Arena.
WSU improved to 9-1 in games decided by five points or less, this time needing to rally from 12 points down in the second half to avoid becoming the first No. 1 seed in the AAC Tournament’s seven-year run to lose in the quarterfinals. Etienne led the way with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-17 shooting, as the Shockers (16-4) advanced to Saturday’s 2 p.m. semifinals against Cincinnati (11-10) in a game broadcast on ESPN2.
“Those guys just have a knack for finishing out close games,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said.
WSU’s latest magic trick down the stretch came in a likely must-win situation to keep its hopes of an NCAA Tournament at-large berth alive. The Shockers are distinguished from their bubble peers because their résumé is spotless when it comes to bad losses. A loss to USF (NET No. 206) would have sullied their team sheet and made for a sweaty Selection Sunday.
Now with a regular-season conference championship, a win over top-10 Houston and a trip to the conference tournament semifinals to its name, WSU feels secure in its chances of returning to March Madness regardless of how the rest of the weekend in Fort Worth plays out.
“I’m so excited that our guys stayed together and kept battling and kept battling until we had an opportunity to win it at the end,” Brown said.
WSU’s chances looked bleak when it trailed by nine points with less than seven minutes remaining. The comeback becomes even more impressive when you realize that WSU did not make a field goal in the final 5:08 of regulation after senior point guard Alterique Gilbert (12 points) jolted the Shockers back to life with back-to-back three-pointers.
Trailing by one with the clock ticking under 30 seconds, WSU funneled the ball to Etienne, its star player who had missed his last five shots. Instead of settling for a pull-up jumper, Etienne forced the issue going toward the basket and earned a whistle with 8.9 seconds left. He made both free throws to give WSU its 68-67 lead.
“Tyson was the Player of the Year in the league and I wanted him to get his hands on the ball,” Brown said. “He did a good job of driving and picking up the foul. That’s where he’s improved from last year. He used to be just a catch-and-shoot guy. Now he can break you down off the bounce. He’s excellent at the free throw line and one of those guys you want at the free throw line late in the game.”
WSU set up a full-court press and as the last line of defense, junior center Morris Udeze (nine points, 11 rebounds) knew it would be up to him if a player came barreling his way the length of the court. Sure enough, that’s exactly what played out as USF’s David Collins took the inbounds pass, weaved his way through the defense and steamrolled his way down the lane toward the rim.
Like he has done so many times in his career, Udeze slid over and established legal guarding position to draw the charge call with 4 seconds remaining. Etienne missed a free throw, but USF was left with a half-court heave that missed the mark to secure the win for WSU.
“A lot of big men don’t want to step up and take a charge,” Etienne said. “He sacrificed his body for us in crunch time. That was the play of the game, in my opinion. That’s what Shocker basketball is.”
It spoiled what was a superb effort from USF, which out-shot WSU (44.8% and 37.7%), out-rebounded WSU (41-33) and made a season-high 10 three-pointers. WSU played 35 minutes trailing, the most of any game this season, and led for just 3:21, by far the least amount of time WSU has led in a win this season (previous low was 10:52).
“They played like their life was on the line,” Brown said.
“I’m disappointed in how it ended, but 100% not disappointed with the effort and fight that our guys showed,” USF coach Brian Gregory said. “We did a lot of good things today and I think we played some of our best basketball, but that’s why Wichita State won (11) games in our league. They’re a good team.”
Trouble as apparent early when USF darted out to a 13-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game.
Etienne did his best to shoot the Shockers out of their funk, as his 13 first-half points were crucial during a nine-minute stretch where they outscored USF 25-8 to build a 30-25 lead. Etienne was shooting from deep, Gilbert was slithering his way for buckets and Ricky Council IV (seven points) kept earning trips to the line.
It seemed like the Shockers had shook off their Friday morning struggles and were ready to roll over the same Bulls team they had squashed by 17 points less than a week earlier at Koch Arena to capture their first AAC championship.
Then WSU proceeded to implode the final four minutes of the first half, as it gave up a 14-0 run to USF and fell in a 41-32 halftime hole. The Bulls had their way with WSU’s defense in the first half, as the normally average jump-shooting team torched the nets for 50% shooting and seven three-pointers.
WSU has advanced to the AAC semifinals in all three of its appearances since joining the conference. The Shockers will try to become just the second of seven teams in program history to earn the No. 1 seed and follow through by winning a conference tournament title in front of the hundreds of WSU fans who are in Fort Worth this weekend.
“You look up and see a bunch of black and yellow and that’s huge,” Etienne said. “We know what we did in the regular season doesn’t matter. It’s a one-game season now. We need as much of an advantage as we can get. To have Shocker nation out there is huge and it played a role. It wasn’t just us and the coaches. Shocker Nation did an amazing job too.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 1:20 PM.
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