Magical tournament run for Wichita State’s AfterShocks ends in TBT quarterfinals
The Basketball Tournament is a whole different beast away from the friendly confines of Koch Arena.
The AfterShocks learned that lesson on Saturday afternoon in a 92-63 loss to Florida TNT in the TBT quarterfinals at UD Arena at the University of Dayton.
Gone was the record crowd of Wichita State fans who helped spur the team to three straight wins at Koch Arena to capture a regional championship and trip to Dayton in just the second year as a WSU men’s basketball alumni program.
“You don’t really see a lot of teams that are new win this many games,” AfterShocks head coach Zach Bush said. “It’s usually veteran teams. So for us to be in our second year and be here, there’s a lot of teams that would have loved to win a regional. It was so fun to play well in front of our fans and I’m super proud of these guys this early in our TBT legacy to get to this point.”
That kind of crowd support may have made a difference early when the AfterShocks were mounting a comeback. But in the end, Florida TNT was simply better on Saturday and no kind of home-court advantage would have neutralized that fact.
The way the game spiraled out of control in the second half was a disheartening performance on a big stage, but the AfterShocks found consolation in their time together and the wins in Wichita. For such a young program, just reaching Dayton was an accomplishment and something the team hopes is an annual tradition in the summer.
Tyrus McGee was the only AfterShocks scorer in double-digits with a team-high 18 points, while Rashard Kelly added 10 rebounds and Conner Frankamp had four assists. It was an ice-cold shooting performance for the AfterShocks, which finished shooting 31.7% from the floor.
“It was pretty deflating honestly,” said Frankamp, who missed all six of his three-pointers. “We would make a run and then they would just hit three threes in a row and the run was over. We came out flat and missed some shots and some easy buckets inside, then they got out in transition.
“It was just one of those days for all of us.”
Meanwhile, it rarely mattered whether Florida TNT was looking to score inside or outside, it was coming away with points. The AfterShocks failed to put up much defensive resistance, as Florida TNT had its way by shooting 61.4% from the field and drilled a total of 14 three-pointers. Dominique Jones led the way with 18 points for Florida TNT.
It took less than three minutes for the AfterShocks to fall into their largest deficit of The Basketball Tournament, as Florida TNT drilled its first five shots of the game to take a 13-2 lead and force the AfterShocks to burn a timeout.
The AfterShocks briefly rallied to close within 16-13 midway through the first quarter, but the first half saw the WSU alumni team play mostly from a double-digit deficit.
There was briefly hope of a strong close to the half and dwindling Florida TNT’s lead to single-digits, as a Clevin Hannah corner three cut the deficit to 41-31 with 2:28 to play before the break. But Tristan Spurlock drilled a corner three of his own, then Hannah fouled a three-point shooter and Chris Warren made all three free throws to help Florida TNT take a 49-34 lead at halftime.
“It was just one of those days where it felt like no ball seemed to roll our way,” Bush said. “We came out flat and it felt like they hit everything they put up. There were times where we would play good defense and they would just hit a tough shot. It just wasn’t our day.”
Any attempt at a comeback in the first half was dashed because Florida TNT shot 60% from the field (18 of 30), 47% on three-pointers (7 of 15) and 100% on free throws (6 of 6). For the half, Florida TBT scored an average of 1.58 points every trip down the floor.
The same script played out early in the second half — the AfterShocks would briefly rally and be on the brink of cutting the deficit to single-digits, but never could make that one shot or get that one stop of get over the hump.
An early flurry from McGee cut Florida TNT’s lead to 53-41 with 7:15 remaining in the third quarter and put the AfterShocks in position again to make a run.
The AfterShocks even had two open three-pointers to potentially cut into the lead, but they both missed and Florida TNT’s Kenny Boynton scored easily in transition and the run was on. Before the AfterShocks could call timeout again, Florida TNT’s lead had grown to 60-41. By the end of the third quarter, the lead was up to 25 and by the fourth quarter, it had ballooned to as many as 30.
“We’ve all connected and become really close over these last few weeks,” Frankamp said. “We were really close before, but it’s really brought us together. Hopefully we can get these guys back here for next year and make a run again.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2021 at 12:43 PM.
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