Thanksgiving thriller: Wichita State basketball rallies to beat Minnesota in overtime
What looked like a hopeless situation was turned into an improbable victory by the Wichita State men’s basketball team in a Thanksgiving thriller on Thursday.
The Shockers erased a late five-point deficit in regulation, courtesy of a last-second 3-pointer by Harlond Beverly, then used last-second free throws by Justin Hill to break a tie and beat Minnesota 68-66 in the opening game of the ESPN Events Invitational at State Farm Fieldhouse.
WSU is off to its first 6-0 start since 2019 and will play Florida in Friday’s championship game at 2:30 p.m. Central Time. It will be broadcast on ESPN.
Beverly scored a game-high 16 points, while Corey Washington added 13 points and seven rebounds, Hill chipped in 11 points and Xavier Bell scored 11. Minnesota (5-2) was led by 14 points on 20 shots by Charlotte transfer Lu’Cye Patterson.
1. Harlond Beverly delivers theatrics to force overtime
It was far from clinical, but WSU managed to claw back from five down in the final 150 seconds of regulation to force overtime.
After an Xavier Bell score, WSU’s defense forced a 3-point miss from Minnesota, but gave up the offensive rebound. Matej Bosnjak managed to block the putback attempt, but then WSU was whistled for a foul on the ensuing loose ball. Even with all of that, Minnesota came up empty when Isaac Asuma missed a bonus free throw.
Beverly’s shot at the other end rattled out, then WSU’s defense produced another 3-point miss by Minnesota — only to once again give up an offensive rebound. But WSU managed to get an extra stop to keep the score at 55-52 with 28.9 seconds left.
A layup by Beverly cut the deficit to 55-54 with 10.6 seconds left, then WSU immediately fouled Asuma, a freshman who had made just 2 of 6 free throws this season up until that point. But Asuma came up clutch for Minnesota, as the freshman made both for a 57-54 lead.
That came in handy when seconds later, WSU ran a dribble hand-off play around the perimeter with hopes of freeing up Hill for a potential game-tying 3-pointer. But with Minnesota covering him up, Bijan Cortes instead swung the ball to Beverly on the left wing.
Beverly, a career 23% 3-point shooter, pump faked his original defender, took a dribble to his left to use a screen set by Quincy Ballard and launched a spread-legged attempt over the outstretched hand of Minnesota big man Parker Fox and curled it into the basket for the game-tying score with 1.2 seconds left.
It was Beverly’s first 3-pointer for WSU since the Nov. 4 season-opener at Western Kentucky. WSU’s win probability was just 8.6% on its final possession, per KenPom.com.
2. Shockers pull out a thriller in overtime
After playing from behind down the stretch of regulation, WSU played in front for nearly the entire overtime period with three free throws by Quincy Ballard supplying the team the early advantage.
WSU was firmly in control of the game after Bell scored a left-handed scoop in the lane, then the Shockers came up with a defensive stand in the final minute. Despite trailing 66-62, Minnesota opted not to foul and allowed WSU to dwindle the clock under 30 seconds, but the strategy paid off when the Gophers stripped Bell on a drive and turned it into immediate points at the other end.
Following a timeout, Minnesota’s defense produced another strip, steal and bucket in the matter of seconds. Justin Hill was trapped in the corner by Minnesota’s full-court press and had the ball pried loose, as Brennan Rigsby scored for the second time in six seconds to tie the game at 66 with 13.5 seconds left.
Despite the late collapse, WSU still had the ball to decide the game.
On its final trip, WSU called for a high ball screen with Ballard dragging Minnesota’s 6-foot-8, 260-pound center Frank Mitchell out on the perimeter, where the Shockers capitalized when Hill dribbled around him and forced a foul call with 4.6 seconds left.
Just like he did in the season-opening win at Western Kentucky, Hill was flawless at the line in crunch time to put WSU ahead.
But the game was far from over, as Minnesota raced the ball up the court and Rigsby, a sharpshooter, launched a double-clutch 3 from the corner that was dead on target.
The ball bounced high into the air off the back rim, came down off the front rim, rolled off the back rim one more time and dribbled off the back side of the rim with time expired and a gaggle of players underneath looking up anxiously to learn their fate.
3. Defending Dawson: Shockers limit star
Minnesota star big man Dawson Garcia entered Thursday’s game ranked No. 6 in KenPom’s National Player of the Year standings, thanks to superb shooting numbers with averages of 22.8 points and 7.8 rebounds.
The 6-foot-11 senior had scored under 22 points just once in Minnesota’s first six games, but was held to a season-low four points on 1-of-7 shooting against the Shockers. He fouled out in the first minute of overtime.
WSU found success by using its power forward, either Corey Washington (6-foot-5, 188 pounds) or Joy Ighovodja (6-4, 205), to defend Garcia (6-11, 234) and then send a double team, usually from its center, to try to force the ball out of his hands.
This strategy allowed a smaller, quicker defender to hang with Garcia on the perimeter, where he can do damage, and then when he took a dribble inside the arc, he was swarmed by multiple defenders.
But it also cost WSU its starting power forward, as Washington fouled out with 5:01 remaining due to the physical play trying to guard Garcia.
In the end, it proved worth it, as Garcia was held to a career-low in his 63 games at Minnesota with the exception of a game he exited early in the first half due to injury.
Up next: Shockers vs. Florida, 2:30 p.m. Friday
The Shockers (6-0) will play the winner between Florida and Wake Forest for the ESPN Events Invitational championship at State Farm Fieldhouse in Kissimmee, Fla. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Other info on Wichita State-Minnesota basketball game
- This is WSU’s third appearance in the ESPN Events Invitational, formerly known as the Advocare Invitational and Old Spice Classic. The Shockers are 1-5 in their past two appearances.
- WSU is seeking its third multi-team event championship and first since 2013 when the team won the CBE Classic. The Shockers have been runner-up four time since then: 2014 Diamond Head Classic, 2017 Maui Invitational, 2019 Cancun Challenge and the 2022 Hall of Fame Classic.
- Minnesota was without star guard Mike Mitchell for a fifth straight game due to an ankle injury. The 6-foot-2 senior was a returning starter and ranked third on the team in scoring last season at 10.2 points per game.
- WSU improved to 4-2 all-time against the Golden Gophers in a series that dates back to 1962. The last time the two programs had played each other before Thursday was the semifinals of the 1995 Big Island Invitational in Hilo, Hawaii when Minnesota won 64-55.
- The Shockers could meet up with former WSU assistant coach Steve Forbes in Friday’s game. Forbes, who was an assistant coach for WSU from 2013-15, has been the head coach at Wake Forest for the past four seasons. Forbes was part of the WSU team that started 35-0 and a Sweet 16 run in 2015.
- Thursday’s game featured two of the most veteran teams in the country, as WSU ranks No. 16 in Division I experience and Minnesota ranks No. 13.
- On this date on Nov. 28, 1980, WSU sophomore Antoine Carr made all 13 of his field goals against Abilene Christian to set a school record that still stands. He scored 21 of his game-high 29 points before halftime.
This story was originally published November 28, 2024 at 1:23 PM.
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