FORT WORTH, Texas – Wichita State battled back to defeat South Florida, 68-67, in quarterfinal action at the Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship on Friday afternoon at Dickies Arena.
Tyson Etienne scored a game-high 20 points for the top-seeded Shockers (16-4), who trailed by a dozen with 12:26 to play but found a way to advance. Alterique Gilbert added 12 points and Morris Udeze grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.
The Shockers will take on No. 5 seed Cincinnati in Saturday’s semifinal round (2 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
Etienne made two free throws with eight seconds left to put WSU in front by a point, and Udeze drew a charge on the other end to deny the Bulls a potential game-winning shot with four seconds to play.
Michael Durr paced No. 8 seed USF (9-13), which out-shot (45-38%) and out-rebounded (41-33) the Shockers.
WSU finished plus-eight on turnovers (12-4), committing just one after halftime.
USF jumped out to leads of 13-2 and 23-13 in the first half. WSU answered with a 17-2 push to take the lead, but USF scored the last 14 points of the half.
The Bulls expanded a 41-32 halftime lead to 55-43 with 12:26 to play.
At the point, USF had made 21-of-40 shots, including 9-of-18 from three, but it made just 5-of-21 the rest of the way.
WSU’s bench turned the tide with energy plays.
Reserve forward Clarence Jackson scored all eight of his points in a span of just over two minutes, sinking back-to-back threes along with a layup to give the Shockers new life.
Craig Porter Jr. scored two baskets and assisted on another. In one sequence, he blocked a shot in the paint then sprinted out to intercept a perimeter pass for an easy transition layup.
Dexter Dennis made a three and Gilbert nailed back-to-back from deep. The last cut the USF lead to one, 65-64, with 5:08 to go.
That was the last Shocker field goal of the day.
WSU outscored USF 4-2 over the final 5:08, generating defensive stops on six of the Bulls’ last seven possessions.
Dennis made two free throws with 2:45 left to give the Shockers their first lead of the second half, 66-65.
Durr’s jumper pushed the Bulls back in front with 2:31 to go.
WSU came up empty on its next three possessions but made four-straight stops.
Isaac Brown put the ball in the hands of Etienne, the conference’s co-player of the year, with less than 20 seconds to go and the Shockers still down a point.
Etienne drew a foul in traffic and converted two free throws to give the Shockers the lead for good with just under nine seconds on the clock.
Collins quickly counter-attacked for USF, but bowled over Udeze in the center of the lane on his way to the hoop.
The Shockers again put the ball in the hands of Etienne, who had made all four free throw attempts to that point. The sophomore missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with three seconds left, and USF called its last timeout to set up a potential winner.
Instead, Caleb Murphy’s half-court heave was too strong, and the Shockers survived.
--goshockers.com--