The RoundHouse | 1/6/2019 7:08:00 PM

Perhaps a third of the crowd remained in Koch Arena when the Shockers completed the hand-shake line and turned to the locker room.
 
The fans applauded, doing what they could to pick up a team that dropped an 85-81 overtime decision to Temple on Sunday at Koch Arena. It is a devastating loss for the Shockers (7-7, 0-2 American Athletic Conference). The Shockers played well for long stretches, played hard and had a redemptive victory almost in hand.

The fans recognized that, despite the painful result, some substantive progress appeared.
 
 "We played our best basketball of the year in the first half," Wichita State senior Markis McDuffie said. "We came ready to play."
 
The Shockers led by 11 points late in regulation before the Owls tied it at 74-all to force overtime. In overtime, the Owls (11-3, 1-1) went up 83-79 when guard Shizz Alston Jr. hit a well-defended three-pointer to beat the shot clock. Turnovers and missed shots killed Wichita State in those final minutes and none of them made excuses.
 
"It's one we let get away, multiple times," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "We did some really nice things, but obviously not enough."
 
What the fans reacted to was the play of McDuffie and fellow senior Samajae Hayne-Jones, continued development of some freshmen, a 45-32 halftime lead and an 11-0 run late in regulation that should have closed the door.
 
The Shockers let it slip away, again failing to lock down a lead. That shouldn't obscure everything that came before.
 
"They played well," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "We were fortunate enough to get a couple turnovers here and there to help us. It's a terrific win for us."
 
The Shocker freshmen are up and down.
 
Right now, forward Dexter Dennis and center Isaiah Poor Bear Chandler are moving up. Dennis scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Chandler added 12 points and made 5 of 7 shots. 
 
Dennis, who missed the two previous games in the concussion protocol, scored 12 points in 34 minutes on Thursday at Memphis. He backed that performance up with aggressive play – five offensive rebounds – and slashing to the basket. His offensive rebound and pass to McDuffie for a three gave the Shockers a 74-63 lead and should have been the clinching moment.
 
Temple came back, but Dennis can be that kind of force consistently. Sunday's effort reminded Marshall of the Alabama game, in which Dennis scored 19 points and grabbed four offensive rebounds. Marshall wanted to see that kind of production again.
 
"He's 6-5, he's athletic, he's long," Marshall said. "He hasn't been going (to rebound) and I reminded him of that. Now he's doing it again."
Dennis recognizes the importance of those rebounds.
 
"The way we watch film . . . you really see a lot," Dennis said. "(Marshall) told me 'If you don't go, you don't get them.' I need to go as much as a I can, try to help the team."
 
Chandler owns plenty of offensive skills. As he picks up other parts of the game, he is able to use his soft touch and moves more often. He scored 12 points at Memphis and is now 10 of 14 from the field in the past two games.
 
"He's becoming confident," McDuffie said. "He's definitely going to help us down the road. We need more people to pick it up. We need the whole team. We need to get these other freshmen guys going, and that's what we're going to do."
 
When the Shockers expanded their leads, McDuffie and Haynes-Jones came through big. 
 
McDuffie beat the shot clock with a corner three for a 27-15 lead in the first half and followed that with a 4-0 run for a 33-20 lead. Haynes-Jones used his speed and open-court skills during the late-game 11-0 run. He scored three baskets and passed to Chandler for another during that span.
 
 Marshall has to lean on his seniors and in a manner that's rare for his coaching tenure at Wichita State. Fatigue, he offered, became a factor late in the game. Tired legs and minds showed up most noticeably with soft cuts and passes in the overtime.
 
"Those two guys competed," Marshall said. "Probably played too many minutes. The way they're performing, relative to other guys, there's a significant difference. I've got to find breaks for them when I can. Obviously, they gave out . . .  at the end."
 
McDuffie finished with 24 points and seven rebounds. Haynes-Jones made 10 of 18 shots to finish with 22 points.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.