Wichita State continues to apply its famous bracket-busting skills to the NIT.
Jaime Echenique scored a game-high 18 points, and the sixth-seeded Shockers held off No. 2 Clemson, 63-55, Sunday afternoon to advance to the quarterfinals.
WSU (21-14) will take on No. 1 seed Indiana on Tuesday night (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).
WSU (21-14) never trailed but watched the Tigers trim a 13-point lead to three in the final minute.
Samajae Haynes-Jones delivered the biggest shot of the game -- a step-back three with 30 seconds to play that extended a 58-55 lead to 61-55.
Echenique hit 7-of-8 shots, including 2-of-3 from distance, and added three steals.
Haynes-Jones recorded his second double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The latter matched his career-high.
Markis McDuffie supplied 16 points – three of them on free throws – in 38 minutes to break a pair a long-standing marks. His 153 free throws are the most by a Shocker under modern free throw rules (1972-Pr.). He also broke Randy Smithson's season mark for total minutes, set during the 1980-81 season. McDuffie has played in 1,125 minutes this year (an average of just over 33 minutes-per-contest).
Dexter Dennis scored nine points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds whie playing effective defense on Clemson leading scorer Marcquise Reed.
Reed scored a team-high 18 points for Clemson (20-14) but needed 20 shots. He was 5-of-20 (0-for-5 from deep) but knocked down 8-of-10 free throws.
The Shockers committed 17 turnovers but outrebounded the Tigers, 38-34, and held them to just 28.3 percent from the field.
NOTABLE:
***WSU will play in its fourth NIT Quarterfinal on Tuesday. It's just the second quarterfinal appearance for a Shocker team since 1979 when the bracket expanded to 32 teams.
***WSU is trying to become just the sixth team to reach New York by winning three road games. No NIT team has ever swept the No. 1, 2 and 3 seeds to reach MSG.
***
Gregg Marshall is 501-195 (.720) in 21 seasons.
***WSU has won seven-straight NIT games – tied for the eighth-longest streak in NIT history.
***WSU has won 13 of its last 16 since starting the year 8-11.
***The Shockers are 6-7 this year in true road games with wins in six of their last seven.
***WSU is 1-0 all-time vs. Clemson.
***Marshall is 2-3 vs. Clemson (all at Littlejohn Coliseum).
***McDuffie moved into third on WSU's single-season scoring list (639 points). Only Xavier McDaniel (844 in 1984-85) and Dave Stallworth (769 in 1964-65) have scored more in a season.
