Shocker Radio Postgame: Marshall | Morris

WICHITA, Kan. – Shaquille Morris and Darral Willis Jr. combined for 48 points, and No. 19/18 Wichita State stormed back from a 14-point halftime hole to defeat Temple, 93-86, Thursday night at Charles Koch Arena.

After surrendering a Marshall Era high 56 first-half points, Wichita State (20-5, 10-3) outscored Temple 51-30 over the final 20 minutes.

The 14-point halftime deficit was the second largest ever for a victorious Shocker team. The 2013-14 team rallied from 18 down at halftime to defeat Missouri State and keep its unbeaten season alive.

The win gives the Shockers 20 victories for the ninth straight season and also marked the 200th win since the 2003 Roundhouse Renaissance Project transformed Henry Levitt Arena into Charles Koch Arena.

Morris collected his second double-double of the season with 23 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. The Edmond, Okla., native finished 9-for-10 from the field. Morris became just the fifth player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks.

Willis led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting, one point shy of a career high. Austin Reaves (11), Landry Shamet (10) and Conner Frankamp (10) rounded out the double-figure scorers.

The Shockers finished the game shooting 56 percent overall on 19 assists. Both teams only turned the ball over seven times apiece, but WSU outrebounded Temple, 34-25.

After shooting 63 percent in the first half, Temple finished at 49.2 percent thanks to hitting only 10-of-29 attempts in the final 20 minutes.

Obi Enechionyia led five Owls in double-figures with 17 points. Quinton Rose added 16, Shizz Alston and De'Vondre Perry scored 15 each and Josh Brown finished with 13 and six assists.

Temple came out white hot from the field, hitting five three-pointers in the first six and a half minutes to build a 21-7 lead. Six of the Owls' first nine baskets would come from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Shockers would start just 3-of-10 from the field, including 1-of-5 from deep.

The Wichita State response would start at the midway point of what would turn into a 11-0 run, cutting the Temple lead to just four. WSU would get three-pointers from Willis and Morris in the spurt, while the Owls would go scoreless for more than three minutes.

Wichita State would pull as close as three, but Temple would push the lead right back to 14, 50-36, with 2:54 remaining in the half. The Owls were shooting 62 percent overall, including a 10-of-14 mark from three-point range.

Willis was the only answer offensively for the Shockers down the stretch, scoring 15 points in the half. Without Willis' 5-of-6 shooting, the rest of the team was just 8-of-22.

Temple would add one more trey in the final seconds to take a 56-42 lead into halftime. The Owls torched the nets to the tune of 63 percent overall (11-15 from three). Obi Enechionyia (14 points) and Shizz Alston (12 points) paced the Owls with three triples each.

The 14-point halftime deficit was the largest of the season for Wichita State and the 56 points were the most allowed in the Gregg Marshall era.

A re-energized team came out of the locker room for the second half, as the Shockers opened on an 11-0 run to immediately cut the deficit to three. Morris had nine of the points highlighted by a massive alley-oop in a 2-on-1 fast break.

At the 13:24 mark, the Shockers would tie the game at 59 after a Zach Brown dunk in transition to send the sellout crowd into a frenzy and forcing a Temple timeout.

Five straight points from Willis would then give Wichita State its first lead of the game, 68-64.

Temple would not go away though. With 7:36 to go, the Owls would hold a slim 73-72 lead.

A corner three from Reaves would give the Shockers a 79-78 lead, but Temple came right back down the floor with a trey of its own to go back up by two with 4:09 to play.

With 3:38 left and the game tied at 81, a Morris layup plus the fould would put WSU up for good. Free throws from Frankamp and Brown would stretch the lead, as Temple could not come up with an answer to tie.

Up Next
Thursday's game begins a stretch of four games in 10 days for the Shockers, continuing Saturday at Cincinnati (3 p.m. CT, ESPN).