The RoundHouse | 12/15/2018 8:08:00 PM

 
 
The Shockers spent their post-game news conference speaking frankly. They defeated Southern Mississippi 63-60 in front of 9,356 fans at Intrust Bank Arena, but nobody appeared to feel great about the performance.
 
Wichita State (6-4) built a 16-point lead with 10:46 to play. That seemed forgotten in the assessments because of the mistakes that allowed Southern Miss to take a 60-59 lead with 53 seconds to play.
 
"We look good, then the next thing you know it's like we lose our mind," Wichita State senior Markis McDuffie said. "We're 10 games in. There's no reason why we should still be struggling with this."
 
Southern Miss (7-3) made 5 of 9 three-pointers in the second half. Guard Cortez Edwards scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half. Forward Tyree Griffin scored 10 of his 12 in the second half.
 
The Shockers opened the door to the comeback when they lost focus, leading to bad shots, bad passes and defensive breakdowns. 
 
"I was very, very, very disappointed in the way we played down the stretch," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "After we get to the 16-point lead, it was just some bad basketball."
 
They survived after Samajae Haynes-Jones fouled Griffin on a three-pointer with under a second to play. Griffin was injured on the play and Leonard Harper-Baker (chosen by Marshall to replace Griffin at the line) missed all three foul shots to preserve the three-point edge.
 
Marshall called some of the 15 turnovers "gross." He bemoaned the missed layups and fumbled passes. He passed on Southern Miss coach Doc Sadler's joke about his team needing to stop warming up with three-pointers after halftime and get in a layup line. The win, Marshall said, didn't feel like much of a win.
 
"We've got to make layups," Marshall said. "There's a lot of points we left on the board."
 
The mistakes – bad passes by guards Ricky Torres and Erik Stevenson, bad shots and defensive errors – won't look any better in the next film session. 
 
"We made a lot of mistakes," Haynes-Jones said. "When things are going good, we're moving the ball. That's something we've got to stay consistent with."
 
Stevenson went 1 for 9 from the field. His make was a big one, a three to give the Shockers a 55-50 lead. Torres committed six turnovers. He handed out six assists, none more important a perfectly placed lob pass to center Jaime Echenique for a dunk and a 61-60 lead with 36 seconds to play.
 
"I'm glad we survived that," Marshall said. "We've just got to play so much better. We're going to keep practicing and keep working hard. Hopefully, we can get them better."
 
While much went wrong, the Shockers ultimately leaned on a familiar asset. They grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second-chance points. 
 
That hustle and height saved them when other aspects of the game faltered badly. The Shockers took nine of those offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points in the second half, when points were scarce.
 
Most notably, Stevenson grabbed a missed free throw by Morris Udeze with 18 seconds to play and the Shockers up 62-60. That led to a foul shot for McDuffie and a 63-60 lead. Echenique rebounded a missed three and scored with 2:52 to play to give the Shockers a 57-53 lead.
 
"You can't give up the offensive rebounds on the free throw and the jump shot," Southern Miss coach Doc Sadler said.

For the game, Wichita State used its size advantage to outscore the Eagles 34-14 in the paint.
 
Ranking Wichita State's games at Intrust Bank Arena:

1. No. 12 Wichita State 70, Tennessee 61 (2013-14 season) – The Shockers improved to 10-0 on their way to 35 straight wins. Tennessee ended the season in the Sweet 16. Tekele Cotton scored 19 points and Darius Carter added 11 points and 14 rebounds.
2. Wichita State 76, No. 25 Utah 50 (2015-16) – Wichita State needed a win after Fred VanVleet's hamstring injury contributed to a 4-4 start. The Shockers held the Utes to 14 baskets and forced 19 turnovers. Markis McDuffie came off the bench to make 4 of 5 three-pointers and score 13 points. 
3. Wichita State 82, Tulsa 79 (2010-11) – A crowd of 14,112 watched David Kyles score 14 of the first 16 points for Wichita State. Garrett Stutz scored 20 points and Tulsa's Justin Hurtt 30 in the downtown arena's first basketball game.
4. Oklahoma 91, No. 3 Wichita State 83 (2017-18) – Shocker fans got an in-person look at Sooner freshman Trae Young, who scored 29 points and handed out 10 assists.
5. No. 8 Wichita State 81, Saint Louis 52 (2014-15) – The Shockers held Saint Louis to 35.7 percent shooting in front of the event's first sellout crowd of 15,004. Ron Baker scored 18 points for Wichita State.
6. Wichita State 59, Southern Miss 51 (2012-13) – Wichita State trailed by 12 points in the second half. Demetric Williams led the Shockers with 17 points.
7. Wichita State 68, UAB 46 (2011-12) – Stutz scored 17 points to lead the Shockers in scoring in both of his downtown games. Wichita State held the Blazers to 1-of-16 shooting from three-point range. 
8. Oklahoma State 93, Wichita State 76 (2016-17) – Cowboys guard Jawun Evans scored 22 points. Wichita State's Darral Willis Jr. scored 24 and grabbed 13 rebounds, the first of two double-doubles for him at Intrust Bank Arena.
9. Wichita State 63, Southern Miss 60 (2018-19) – The teams combined to miss 21 foul shots. Neither shot above 40 percent.

Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.