WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State University men's basketball team went on a 10-3 run over the final two minutes of the game to secure a 75-67 win over the UCF Knights late Wednesday evening, Jan. 16, at Charles Koch Arena.  

With the win, the Shockers (8-8, 1-3) pick up their first American Athletic Conference victory of the season, while handing the Knights (13-3, 3-1) their first conference loss of 2019.

Senior Markis McDuffie led three Wichita State players in double figures, scoring 18 points in the second-half for a game-high 23 points, while fellow senior Samajae Haynes-Jones added 14 and freshman Dexter Dennis compiled 12. Dennis paced WSU on the glass, snagging a career-best nine rebounds.

The Shockers and Knights struggled to score the opening five minutes of the game, with WSU and UCF combining to score just 11 points.

Wichita State caught fire at the 15:31 mark of the first-half though, and went on a 13-2 run over the next seven minutes, turning a 7-4 deficit into a 17-9 lead after a Haynes-Jones jumper with 8:35 remaining. Sophomore Asbjørn Midtgaard went a perfect 2-for-2 during the 13-point spurt, converting a pair of jumpers, while Stevenson contributed five points with a three-pointer and layup, and Rod Brown added a pair of free-throws.

The Shockers held UCF scoreless for almost seven minutes in the opening 20 minutes, and went into halftime with a 33-25 advantage after Jamarius Burton was fouled on a three with 1.1 seconds to go and made all three free-throws.

Burton led WSU in the first-half with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, while Midtgaard went a flawless 3-for-3 from the floor, giving him a career-best six points.

Wichita State shot 48 percent from the field while holding UCF to 35 percent shooting in the opening frame.

Haynes-Jones scored six of the opening eight points for WSU in the second-half, giving the Shockers a 43-33 lead after a layup with 16 minutes remaining.

Sparked by back-to-back treys from Aubrey Dawkins, UCF trimmed the WSU lead to 47-46 with 11:24 to go, but McDuffie netted six of the Shockers next eight points, including a four-point play after converting a three and making a free-throw after a UCF foul, building the Wichita State advantage to 55-50 with nine minutes remaining.

The Knights cut the lead to four at 57-53 when Dayon Griffin made a three-pointer, but McDuffie answered with an emphatic dunk, increasing the WSU lead to 59-53 with just over six minutes showing on the clock.

UCF didn't yield though, and utilized a 6-0 run to narrow the Shocker advantage to one at 63-62 with 2:46 to go, but a Dennis layup pushed the WSU lead back to three, 65-62, with just over two minutes remaining in regulation.

Wichita State went a perfect 8-of-8 at the foul line in the final two minutes of the game, securing the victory.

For the game, WSU shot 52 percent from the field and went a season-best 94 percent at the free-throw line, converting 17 of 18 attempts at the line. Wichita State also won the glass, outrebounding UCF, 35-22.

The Knights shot 42 percent from the floor and 45 percent from three-point range in the contest, but made just 14 of 20 free-throw shots for 70 percent.

Dawkins led UCF, netting 22 points.

Wichita State is scheduled to host Cincinnati on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 1 p.m. inside Charles Koch Arena. The game will be televised live on CBS.