Box Score Eighth-ranked Wichita State (9-0) tied its best start in school history as the Shockers used a quick 7-0 spurt with under three minutes to play to put away a pesky Kennesaw State (2-8) squad, 74-65, Tuesday evening in front of a sold-out crowd inside Charles Koch Arena.
Senior Ryan Martin led the Shockers with a career-high 19 points. Junior P.J. Couisnard neared a triple-double with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Junior Phil Thomasson and senior Karon Bradley reached double-figures with 14 points and 11 points, respectively.
The Owls were led by Golden Ingle's 26 points. Shaun Stegall had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
WSU took a quick 10-4 lead capped by a Thomasson dunk with 16:29 minutes to play in the half. Ingle began the Owl comeback by scoring 11-straight points to key a 19-6 run, giving KSU a 23-16 lead. The Shockers clamped down on defense and held the Owls scoreless for seven minutes and went on a 13-0 run reclaim the lead, 29-23. Ingle closed the half by scoring five-straight points and closed the gap to 35-32 at the half.
Ingle scored 21 of KSU's 32 points of the half on 7-of-9 shooting, including going 3-for-4 from behind the arc. WSU led by only three points despite shooting 58 percent from the field.
Couisnard led the Shocker attack to start the second half by scoring six-straight points to push the lead to 41-34 with 18 minutes to play. WSU went on an 11-3 run midway through the second half to give the Shockers their biggest lead of the night, 58-42. The Owls would not go away and pulled within three, 59-56, on two free-throws with three minutes to play.
WSU put the game away with a three-point play by senior Kyle Wilson to push the lead back to 10. The Shockers made free-throws down the stretch to hold on to the 74-65 win.
“That's a well coached team that came in here and got some confidence and used the clock,” head coach Mark Turgeon said. “We had the game and then got a little complacent. They hit some shots and we panicked a little bit.”
WSU held the Owls to just 37 percent shooting for the game while shooting 56 percent. The Shockers did not make a three-point basket, breaking a streak of 205 games in which WSU connected from long-range dating to the 1999-00 season.
Four Shockers registered more than 17 minutes off of the bench. Sophomore Wendell Preadom scored four points while playing a career-high 22 minutes. Bradley and Thomasson played 29 and 27 minutes, respectively.
“I think our bench grew up a lot tonight,” Couisnard said. “They came off the bench and played great tonight. It's good to have great players come off the bench like that in case we really do need them like we did tonight.”
WSU will be back in action on Fri., Dec. 22 as the Shockers travel to Las Vegas to take on New Mexico (8-2) in the third game of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic. The game will be televised on Kansas Now 22 at 9:35 p.m.
