Takeaways: Wichita State basketball wins at Rice for chance to move up AAC standings
At the end of the season, there won’t be a disclaimer about how the Wichita State men’s basketball team won at Rice on Thursday.
All that mattered to the Shockers was finding a way to win, which they did in a 63-59 victory over the Owls at Tudor Fieldhouse.
A rock fight might take offense being compared to Thursday’s action, but WSU (18-12, 8-9 AAC) managed to snap its 2-game losing skid, win for the seventh time in the last nine games and better position itself for seeding in the upcoming American Athletic Conference tournament. Meanwhile, Rice dropped to 13-18 overall and 4-14 in conference play.
WSU shot 38.1% and Rice 35.7% from the floor, but the Shockers used 18 offensive rebounds to score 15 second-chance points for an edge. Harlond Beverly scored a team-high 16 points off the bench, while Ronnie DeGray III recorded a career-best 16 rebounds and added seven points. Bijan Cortes (9 points) hit a key late shot, while Quincy Ballard (6 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks) was important underneath.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
1. AAC tournament scenarios entering final game
With the win on Thursday, WSU will either be the No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 seed at the conference tournament next week in Fort Worth.
The Shockers (8-9) are currently tied with Temple (8-9) for seventh in the conference standings, one game back from Florida Atlantic (9-8). WSU owns the tiebreaker over FAU, while Temple owns the tiebreaker over the Shockers.
Here is the best-case scenario for WSU in Sunday’s regular-season finale:
- Shockers beat Tulsa at home.
- Temple loses at home to North Texas.
- Florida Atlantic loses at home to East Carolina.
All three outcomes must hit for the Shockers to obtain the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, which would mean they would play the No. 11 seed at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 13, in Fort Worth.
If Temple and FAU both win on Sunday, then WSU would fall to the No. 8 seed regardless of its outcome against Tulsa. In that scenario, the Shockers would play the No. 9 seed at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 13. A loss by WSU on Sunday would also clinch the No. 8 seed.
If Temple loses, FAU wins and WSU wins, then the Shockers would be the No. 7 seed and play the No. 10 seed at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 13.
If FAU loses and Temple and WSU both win to create a 3-way tie, Temple would win the tiebreaker for the No. 6 seed, WSU would finish second in the mini group for the No. 7 seed and FAU would fall to the No. 8 seed. All three teams are 1-1 against each other in the mini-group.
2. Wichita State survived an ugly finish to the game
It wasn’t exactly a masterclass on how to close out a win on the road, but Wichita State still pulled it out nonetheless.
After taking a 56-50 lead with 7:16 left, the Shockers proceeded to miss their next 12 shots — six coming after offensive rebounds. But WSU didn’t allow its missed shots on offense to affect its defense, as the team never relinquished the lead despite its scoring woes.
Bijan Cortes finally ended the more-than-6-minute field goal drought with a one-handed push shot in the lane with 52 seconds left to extend WSU’s lead to 60-57.
Rice missed a jumper to cut into the deficit and with a chance to push the lead to two possessions, Ronnie DeGray III clanked the front-end of a bonus free throw with 20.7 seconds left.
Instead of chasing the game-tying 3-pointer, Rice chose to attack the basket and Quincy Ballard forced a miss. DeGray came up with the loose ball for his 16th rebound of the game and clinched the victory at the other end with a free throw with 7.6 seconds left for a 61-57 lead.
Thursday’s loss was the sixth AAC defeat for Rice on its home court by six points or fewer, including narrow losses to the top three conference teams in Memphis (by 3), North Texas (by 6) and UAB (by 1).
3. Sloppy play negated a 9-minute field goal drought by Rice
Neither side could feel very good about the way they played in the opening 20 minutes, as WSU took a 31-28 lead into halftime.
On one hand, it seemed like an impressive feat for the Shockers to hold a lead given their sloppy play in the first half. They committed three straight turnovers in the first two minutes of the game and finished with eight total for the half.
But considering Rice went more than nine minutes in between field goals, it was a bit of a disappointment WSU’s halftime lead wasn’t larger.
Beverly came off the bench to score 12 points — including 11 straight at one point — during an extended 17-2 run by the Shockers, which took them from a 5-point deficit to a 26-16 lead with 5:13 remaining in the first half.
But WSU reverted to its previous sloppy play to close out the half, as the offense sputtered down the stretch once Rice switched to a zone defense. The Shockers also failed to hit the glass like they once did during their winning streak, as they lost the rebounding battle in the first half and were limited to retrieving just 29% of their own misses.
Upcoming schedule for Shocker basketball
vs. Tulsa, 1 p.m. (ESPN+) on Sunday, March 9
vs. TBD in AAC tournament, TBD on Thursday, March 13
American Athletic Conference basketball standings
15-2, Memphis (25-5)
14-3, North Texas (23-6)
13-4, UAB (20-10)
11-6, Tulane (17-13)
10-7, East Carolina (18-12)
9-8, Florida Atlantic (16-14)
8-9, Temple (16-14)
8-9, Wichita State (18-12)
6-11, South Florida (13-17)
5-12, UTSA (11-18)
5-12, Tulsa (11-19)
4-14, Rice (13-18)
3-14, Charlotte (10-20)
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 9:10 PM.
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