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TULSA, Okla. - No. 9 Wichita State suffered its first loss of the season, falling 77-67 at Tulsa, Tuesday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
 
The loss snaps a seven-game winning streak for the Shockers against their former Missouri Valley Conference arch rival.
 
Ron Baker led all scorers with 23 points and had four steals, while playing 39 of a possible 40 minutes. Anton Grady added 18 points and 9 rebounds. Fred VanVleet – still limited by a strained hamstring – finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists without a turnover.
 
Shaquille Harrison led Tulsa's scorers with 20 points and five rebounds. Marquel Curtis added 16 points and four assists, and Pat Birt chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds.
 
The Shockers trailed 30-22 with less than two minutes to play in the opening half but rallied to take the lead on a flurry of VanVleet three-pointers.
 
The senior connected at 1:17 from nearly 30-feet out to beat a dwindling shot clock, drained another at the 48-second mark, and finished with a step-back jumper ahead of the halftime buzzer to give the Shockers their first lead in over 14 minutes.
 
All 11 of VanVleet's points came in the first half.
 
Up 31-30 at the break WSU extended the run to 13-0 when Grady scored the first four points of the second half.
 
Tulsa responded with a 7-0 push of its own and led the final 14:39.
 
WSU trailed 53-51 with 9:37 to play, but Tulsa delivered a powerful blow. Pat Birt drilled a three and absorbed contact from a WSU defender on the release. He converted the free throw for a four-point play, upping the Tulsa advantage to 57-51.
 
The Hurricane used an 11-2 run, beginning at the 7:31 mark to push their lead to a dozen.
 
The Shockers shot just 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the floor and were outrebounded 38-32. After a 48-point effort in the last weekend's season opener against Charleston Southern, the WSU bench managed just eight points at Tulsa.
 
The loss denied head coach Gregg Marshall his 400th career win. He'll try again for that milestone on Saturday against Emporia State. The 2:00 p.m. CT tip at Charles Koch Arena can be seen on Cox Channel Kansas (Cox HD 2022).
 

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Gregg Marshall Postgame Press Conference Quotes:

Opening Statement…
"Well, that was a very good Tulsa team that we played tonight. They played very well. I was worried coming into this game because of their experience and obviously having the home floor. We got some young guys that are just going to have to continue to develop and get better and this was our first true road test and they didn't do so well. We are going to have to continue to coach them and put them in better positions to have success."
 
On the lack of production from the underclassmen…
"That is part of the young guys, the sophomores and the freshman I would say, underclassmen. We have to get more production from them. They are better players than they showed tonight, certainly the results didn't show that. Tulsa got it going making some shots in the first half. On paper they're not going to make this, Curtis goes 2-4 in the first half and he shot well. We came out at halftime only down one and Fred made some incredible shots but we didn't do what we had to do to win against a good team on the road."
 
On how Fred VanVleet's injury affected the night…
"He is battling an injury, he is a tough kid. I am not sure that a lot of guys even would play but he is out there trying so we have to get him healthy."
 
On which injury (ankle or hamstring) was hurting VanVleet more…
"You would have to ask him."
 
On what impressed him most about Tulsa…
"They're good, they're athletic, they're big, they shot it in tonight, they have had those guys together for a long time and they're a bunch of seniors. They played a couple of young guys, Birt played. Everybody but Birt that played double minutes was a senior, they are veterans and they are at home and they played well."