Box Score OMAHA, Neb.- After falling behind by as many as 11 points, Wichita State (16-3, 5-2) used an 11-3 run late to close the gap but came up just short against Creighton (9-9, 4-3), 57-56.
Toure' Murry led WSU with 16 points while
Clevin Hannah added 12. For the Bluejays, P'Allen Stinnett led the offense with 14 points with Kenny Lawson and Cavel Witter each reaching double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
WSU jumped ahead early behind five points from Hannah, but the senior guard was relegated to the bench after picking up his second foul of the first half at the 13:56 mark. Without Hannah, Murry stepped up and scored nearly half of the Shockers' points in the half with 11.
CU kept pace at the free-throw line, hitting 13-of-17, while the Shockers attempted just 10 free-throws.
WSU shot just 29-percent in the first half yet trailed by only a basket, 26-24, at the half as the Bluejays didn't fare much better from the field - shooting 27-percent from the field.
After trading baskets to begin the half, a jumper by Stinnett started a 13-0 run that put the Bluejays up 42-31 with 10:51 to play. Three minutes later, an Antoine Young jumper gave CU its largest lead of the game, 47-35.
Graham Hatch got the Shockers moving in the right direction with a 3-pointer and JT Durley connected inside as WSU started chipping away at the Bluejay lead.
Defense helped key the WSU comeback bid as steals by Murry and Hannah led to points on the offensive end. A 3-pointer by JT Durley cut the deficit to just two, 53-51, with 2:21 on the clock, but an offensive rebound and putback by Lawson gave CU a slight cushion.
With less than a minute left the Shockers had to foul and score quickly. Lawson and Justin Carter each went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line down the stretch, leaving the door open for the Shockers.
Clevin Hannah connected from behind the arc to pull WSU within one with 14-seconds to play, but WSU was unable to foul the Bluejays on the final possession allowing them to run out the clock.
The Shockers return home to play UNI on Tue., Jan. 19. Tip-off is set for 8:05 p.m., and can be seen on ESPNU.
