How Bijan Cortes conquered ups and downs to deliver upset for Shockers over Memphis
The curious career of Bijan Cortes just completed perhaps its most dramatic dip and surge yet on Sunday afternoon.
After two games where the senior point guard combined for one assist and 10 turnovers, Cortes delivered the best game of his career to help Wichita State land its first ranked win in four years: an 84-79 upset over No. 14-ranked Memphis in overtime at Koch Arena.
Cortes scored a career-high 13 points, including the game’s biggest shot with his go-ahead 3-pointer in the final 90 seconds of overtime. He also had a career-high six rebounds and four assists, while playing a career-high 37 minutes without a single turnover — by far the most minutes he has played in his career without turning the ball over.
And he did it all without practicing the previous two days with flu-like symptoms.
“I told him he’s not required to practice anymore,” WSU head coach Paul Mills joked afterward. “He can just show up on game day and we’ll play you.”
Wild swings have defined Cortes’ time with the Shockers, which is not exactly a description for the ideal point guard. One game he will look unstoppable running the pick and roll and throwing lobs to Quincy Ballard; the next, he can’t stop turning the ball over.
And while Cortes has worked hard at keeping his demeanor steady, he still struggles at times with showing frustration when things are not going his way.
“I’ve told him before to never play poker because it’s way too obvious by your face what it is,” Mills said. “You know when he walks into practice whether it looks like his puppy just died and he’s as sad as can be or if he looks like he just got his first kiss and is as excited as can be. He’s feast or famine.”
What Mills, his assistants and WSU players have done is build a support system for Cortes to lean on when he’s working through issues.
The team did not give up on him after he was essentially benched after committing four turnovers in 10 minutes last game against UTSA. Even without Cortes practicing, Mills showed his trust in his senior point guard by starting him on Sunday against Memphis.
That show of support empowered Cortes to feel like Sunday was a clean slate, rather than feeling like he was walking on eggshells and afraid to make the next mistake.
“It’s just sticking in there with my head and making sure I’m good there mentally,” Cortes said. “My teammates do a good job of bringing me up to play better and that’s what I appreciate about them.”
Armed with that kind of confidence, Cortes was prepared for what very well could go down as the biggest shot of his career with WSU trailing 77-75 late in overtime.
Memphis had been gambling down the stretch that WSU could not punish the Tigers when they switched every ball screen. That meant when Quincy Ballard came out to set a screen for Cortes, Memphis was fine with leaving 6-foot-11 center Moussa Cisse alone with Cortes on the perimeter. In fact, Cortes shot an air ball in the first half when he tried to attack Cisse on a switch and pulled up for a 3.
But this time, with WSU in a need-to-score situation as the final minute approached, Cortes did not hesitate with Cisse defending on a switch. The senior from Kingfisher, Oklahoma, caught a swing pass from Harlond Beverly and immediately rose up for a 3-pointer that sailed just over the reach of Cisse with the perfect arc and distance. The ball never touched the rim, swishing through the net for a 78-77 lead and to send the home crowd into hysterics.
“It felt like the game was over,” Beverly said with certainty. “When that one hit, I just felt like, ‘OK, this is our game.’”
It was the only made 3-pointer of the game for Cortes, who is shooting 31% from beyond the arc this season.
“I was having a good game, so my teammates trusted me and gave me the opportunity,” Cortes said. “Harlond passed it to me and told me to shoot it, so I just let it go. That was a great feeling. I loved it.”
Cortes was then asked where that shot ranked in his career.
“That’s probably my favorite shot, for sure,” Cortes said. “Just seeing the whole community and everyone who was in Koch show that love and give us that momentum to push forward. I really enjoyed that.”
It has been a yo-yo experience at times, but there might not be another player who can raise WSU’s ceiling like Cortes when he plays well.
“I feel like our ceiling is sky high when he’s playing well,” Beverly said of his teammate. “We see it in practice a lot and we know what he’s capable of. And today he really showed that. I’m really proud of him.”
When Cortes is sped up, his decision-making can sometimes land him in trouble. When Memphis pressured him on Sunday, he remained in control and made the Tigers pay several times by attacking the basket and finishing with an array of floaters in the lane.
Another factor in his success on Sunday was how much better WSU was in spacing the floor, particularly from the first matchup between the two teams in Memphis; the Shockers turned the ball over 22 times — many because of what Mills labeled as “formation” problems.
WSU finished with just eight turnovers on Sunday for a 10% turnover rate, a drastic turnaround from the 32% turnover rate from the first meeting.
“We didn’t give those guys enough room to work (the last game) and having the ability to get to where they needed to go,” Mills said. “Bijan does a great job of playing in space. So for the most part, I thought we were able to give him a little bit more room, and that’s on us as coaches to make sure the players have space in order to make plays.”
On Sunday, Cortes showed what he can do in space.
And the Shockers showed what they can do when Cortes thrives.
“We just have to stay together through the ups and the downs of a game,” Cortes said. “It doesn’t matter who is out there or who we’re playing against, if we just stick to what we’ve got to do and stick with us, then that is going to help us. This win is huge, especially against the 14th-ranked team in the nation. So we know what we’re capable of doing, we just have to go out there and finish strong.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2025 at 5:43 PM.
.jpg)