Flurry of 3-pointers buries Wichita State basketball team in road game loss at DePaul
The Wichita State men’s basketball team hung tough for the majority of the game, but the Shockers were eventually buried by an avalanche of 3-pointers in DePaul’s 91-72 win at Wintrust Arena on Saturday.
In what could be one of only a handful of chances at a Quad 1 victory, WSU couldn’t keep up with DePaul’s 17 3-pointers. WSU does not keep records for most 3-pointers made by an opponent, but it’s safe to assume 17 is near the top of the list.
The back-and-forth game was broken open midway through the second half by a 15-1 run by DePaul, which ended a two-game slide and improved to 8-2, while the loss dropped WSU to 8-2.
Four WSU players finished in double-digit scoring, led by Harlond Beverly and Xavier Belll, who both scored 14, while Justin Hill added 12 and Quincy Ballard had 12. Corey Washington added nine points and eight rebounds, while Bijan Cortes notched seven assists.
Here are three takeaways to know from WSU’s win:
1. Back-and-forth game turns into runaway win for Blue Demons
For the first 27 minutes on Saturday, WSU and DePaul traded blows with two different but efficient offenses humming at the same rate.
But when WSU’s offense began to sputter in the second half, DePaul continued to rain in 3s in a season-best performance.
The Shockers went six minutes in between field goals, beginning at the 10-minute mark of the second half and lasting until Beverly’s triple with 3:55 left, which saw a 60-60 tied game turn into an 84-67 lead for DePaul.
During that span, the Blue Demons were able to piece together a game-winning 15-1 run that saw several WSU possessions end in a point-blank miss or a turnover. It was a disappointing lapse after WSU had played one of its finest games of the season until that point to keep up with DePaul’s red-hot shooting.
WSU finished the second half scoring just 0.76 points per possession, thanks to 10 turnovers dragging down the efficiency and 38% shooting.
2. WSU head coach Paul Mills earns his first technical
After a first half where WSU head coach Paul Mills voiced his displeasure with the officials more than a handful of times, his frustration finally boiled over in the second half to earn a technical foul.
Mills was already burning hot after officials whistled WSU point guard Justin Hill for an offensive foul on a push off. And then, when DePaul point guard Conor Enright made a similar move against Hill on the very next possession — only for the same referee to call a blocking foul this time — Mills was on the court screaming at the official.
After being assessed a technical, Mills slammed his hand on the scorer’s table in frustration.
WSU was leading 49-47 at the time of the technical, while Jacob Meyer’s two free throws tied the game. WSU made a defensive stand on the ensuing possession and quickly re-gained the lead on a Quincy Ballard layup in transition.
While the WSU bench was whistled for a technical foul in last season’s Kansas State game, that was believed to be on assistant coach Quincy Acy, making Saturday’s technical the first of Mills’ career at WSU.
3. Shockers go blow for blow with DePaul early
WSU knew DePaul was going to let it fly from beyond the arc, but the Blue Demons were on fire on their home court to start Saturday’s game.
DePaul made 8 of its first 11 triples and finished the first half with 11 3-pointers at a 52% clip — yet trailed the Shockers, 47-42, entering the halftime break.
A flurry of 3s put DePaul up 29-21 with 9:33 left in the first half, but WSU survived the barrage with its own efficient offense. Instead of relying on the 3-ball, WSU continued to put pressure on the rim and slowly worked its way back in the game.
During a key 12-0 run to punch back and re-gain the lead, Xavier Bell and Harlond Beverly combined to score three times at the rim with Beverly’s layup putting the Shockers up 33-29 with 6:23 left. From there, both teams traded blows that left WSU with a four-point halftime advantage.
To answer DePaul’s hot outside shooting, WSU shot 63% from the field, including 5 of 7 on its own 3s, and pumped out 1.38 points per possession.
Up next: Shockers vs. Kansas City, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17 on ESPN+
WSU returns home to the Roundhouse for a tune-up before its in-state showdown against Kansas State at Koch Arena on Saturday. The Shockers lead the series against Kansas City, formerly known as UMKC, 7-3 with the last meeting coming in 2018 in a 109-57 victory by WSU at Koch Arena.
While the Roos are off to a 5-7 start under coach Marvin Menzies, they were picked before the season to win the Summit League and feature all-conference selection Jamar Brown, a 6-foot-5 guard averaging 15.2 points so far this season.
Other info about Wichita State-DePaul basketball game
- The WSU-DePaul series dates to 1937, with both teams winning four games apiece entering Saturday’s showdown. The last three meetings have come on a neutral court with the Shockers winning the last two, most recently a 90-72 win over the Blue Demons in the 2013 CBE Classic behind a game-high 21 points from Ron Baker.
- Wondering how the WSU-DePaul series came about? Look no further than each school’s athletic directors. WSU’s Kevin Saal and DePaul’s Dewayne Peevy spent 11 years together in the Kentucky athletic department before departing for their own careers as athletic directors.
- First-year DePaul head coach Chris Holtmann has already doubled the win total from a year ago (3-29) for the Blue Demons. He is a three-time Naismith Coach of the Year finalist and is the former head coach at Ohio State, Butler and Gardner-Webb.
- DePaul is one of six teams in the country to not return any scoring or rebounding from last season, as Holtmann hit the transfer portal hard to overhaul the roster.
- DePaul sophomore wing Layden Blocker spent his final two years of high school at nearby Sunrise Christian Academy.
- WSU is still missing three players due to injury: senior forward Ronnie DeGray III (wrist), senior center Zane Meeks (knee) and freshman wing T.J. Williams (knee). All three have target dates of returning by the start of conference play in January at the earliest.
- WSU entered Saturday’s game ranked top-30 nationally in three different categories: No. 10 in defensive rebounds per game (30.1), No. 26 in turnovers per game (9.9) and No. 29 in free throws made per game (18.0).
- WSU senior center Quincy Ballard moved into fifth place on the program’s career blocks list at 106. His career blocks per game average of 2.04 is on pace to shatter the WSU record.
- On this date, Dec. 14, WSU moved to No. 1 in the national polls for the first time in school history in 1964; WSU held off Tennessee, 70-61, at Intrust Bank Arena to record the first 10-0 start in program history in 2013; and the Shockers reeled off a 12-0 run halfway through the second half to score an 80-75 victory over Oklahoma at Intrust Bank Arena in 2019.
This story was originally published December 14, 2024 at 1:59 PM.
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