Takeaways from Wichita State basketball’s win vs. Charlotte to snap 3-game losing skid
The only winless men’s basketball teams in the American Athletic Conference met on Tuesday at Koch Arena, meaning someone was leaving with its first victory.
Wichita State ended its suffering, snapping a 3-game losing streak to emerge with a 68-59 home win over last-place Charlotte and escape the cellar of the AAC standings. The Shockers (11-6) improved to 1-3 in conference play, while Charlotte (7-11) dropped to 0-5 against AAC competition.
WSU forward Corey Washington, playing through a separated shoulder, led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Harlond Beverly added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in his return to the starting lineup. The Shockers made 48.1% of their shots and 12 of 17 free throws, while winning the battle on the glass by three and limiting their turnover count to nine.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Shockers pull out their first AAC win of season
It wasn’t always pretty, but with the memories of an 0-6 start in conference play last season, WSU wasn’t very much concerned about winning a beauty contest on Tuesday.
The Shockers only cared about snapping their losing streak and they accomplished the goal through their defense against Charlotte. After allowing an average of 90 points in its first three AAC games, WSU’s defense returned to form by holding Charlotte to 59 points on 32.8% shooting and 0.89 points per possession on Tuesday.
The 49ers have relied heavily this season on scoring from the foul line, as they ranked No. 7 nationally in free throw rate (nearly 47%) with 26.5% of their total points coming on free throws, which was second-most in the country. On Tuesday, Charlotte only made 13 of 16 free throws (26% foul rate, 22% of total points).
WSU did a particularly effective job on foul magnet Nik Graves, Charlotte’s leading scorer who was the fifth-leading scorer in the American. Graves still scored 13 points, but finished under his scoring average and only made 3 of 4 free throws.
WSU led for more than 35 minutes of the game and by as many as 14, 58-44, in the second half on the heels of an extended 17-7 run capped by a Harlond Beverly layup.
Charlotte managed to rally, including a technical foul earned by head coach Paul Mills, to trim its deficit to 62-57 with 1:15 remaining, but WSU scored the next four points — capped by a Beverly dunk in transition — to secure its first conference victory.
2. WSU welcomes back Ronnie DeGray from injury
After missing the last 12 games, and nearly two months, due to injury, WSU senior forward Ronnie DeGray III returned to action in Tuesday’s game.
DeGray, who suffered a fractured wrist in a Nov. 18 game against Monmouth, first checked into the game at the second media timeout in the first half and played an uneventful four minutes.
He made his presence felt during his second appearance on the court in the second half, as his first shot attempt in 57 days came from the right wing and his 3-point attempt rolled around every inch of the rim before curling in, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Not long after, DeGray was fouled on a pair of cuts to the basket and made 3 of 4 free throws. He finished the game with eight points in 17 minutes off the bench.
3. Shockers put an end to their slow starts
Digging out of an early hole has been a theme in the last two games, as WSU trailed 16-7 and 10-2 by the first media timeout.
While the Shockers didn’t come out on fire on Tuesday, they did avoid a third straight disastrous start and led 7-5 going into the first media timeout.
That seemed to steady WSU, as it spent the majority of the first half playing with the lead. After two straight botched defensive assignments allowed Charlotte to dart out to a 5-2 lead, the Shockers notched eight straight defensive stands and pieced together a 9-0 run to establish themselves on top.
When the 49ers pushed back to briefly take a 21-20 lead with 5:33 remaining, WSU answered with another 9-0 run — this time with Corey Washington scoring six of the nine points — to help take a 31-27 lead into halftime.
Outside of a handful of defensive lapses, WSU played solid overall defense in the first half to limit Charlotte to 0.87 points per possession and force the 49ers, a poor 3-point shooting team, into taking more than half of their shots from beyond the arc with little success (3-of-16).
Up next: Shockers vs. East Carolina at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Not only will WSU look to double its win total in conference play, the 2025 Shocker Sports Hall of Fame class will be honored at halftime of the game: Kellyn Johnson Taylor (women’s cross country, track and field), Jim Schaus (athletic director), Karma Wagner Mason (women’s bowling) and Mackenzie Wright (softball).
Other info on WSU-Charlotte basketball game
- Xavier Bell recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season at UTSA with a game-high 23 points. He’s averaging 20.1 points over his last eight games with 20-plus points in four of his last six games.
- Quincy Ballard scored a career-high 22 points on a career-best 11-of-12 shooting in the UTSA game. He has notched three double-doubles in his last five games and is averaging 14.8 points and 10.8 rebounds during that span.
- Ballard leads the American Athletic Conference in blocks per game (1.93) and ranks 32nd nationally. He moved into fourth place on the WSU career blocks list earlier this season and is on pace to shatter the WSU career record for blocks per game (1.98).
- WSU and Charlotte have only met once on the hardwood and that happened last season when the 49ers joined the conference. WSU lost 72-61 at Charlotte last season. This season the pair will play a home-and-home series with WSU returning to Charlotte for a road game on Feb. 4.
- Charlotte is led by second-year head coach Aaron Fearne, who began last season as the interim head coach and was officially deemed the 14th head coach in program history last February. He guided the 49ers to a 19-12 record and its first top-three league finish since 2006 in his inaugural season on the job. Before joining Charlotte, Fearne spent nine seasons as head coach and eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Cairns Taipans of Australia’s National Basketball League and served as the head coach of New Zealand’s U-19 National Team in 2018.
- Charlotte guard Nik Graves is fifth in the AAC with 16.8 points per game and has scored in double figures of every game this season but one. With 98 free throws made and 131 attempted, Graves is eighth nationally in attempts and 10th in free throws made.
- On this date in 2014, Fred VanVleet posted 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead the No. 5-ranked Shockers to a 72-50 win over Bradley during their magical 35-1 season. On this date in 2023, WSU erased a 14-point halftime deficit at home to take down Tulsa 73-69 behind 19 points from Jaykwon Walton.
- WSU senior Harlond Beverly entered Tuesday’s game just three points shy of 1,000 career points. He scored 483 points in four years at Miami and has scored more than half of his career points in his two-year career with the Shockers.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 8:29 PM.
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