The RoundHouse | 3/9/2019 10:45:00 PM
Dexter Dennis saved the Shockers from a difficult three days of preparation for the American Athletic Conference Tournament with his buzzer-beater on Saturday.
Perhaps. The video review and practice will still be tough. It's easier learning those hard lessons after a road win.
Dennis sank a corner three-pointer with less than a second to play, coming off a screen, to give the Shockers an 82-79 win at Tulane and dooming the Green Wave to a winless conference season.
Wichita State (17-13, 10-8 American) accomplished its biggest regular-season goal by locking up sixth place in the conference. The defensive breakdowns – especially in the second half when Tulane scored 51 points – will be the subject of much review before the Shockers play again.
Ultimately, however, Dennis' basket sends Wichita State into the post-season with a four-game win streak and on what it believes is the favorable side of the bracket in Memphis. The Shockers play 11
th-place East Carolina on Thursday.
There is more work to do if the Shockers want to play in the National Invitation Tournament, but Saturday's win avoided disaster against Tulane (4-26 , 0-18).
It is Wichita State's third buzzer-beater this season, adding to
Samajae Haynes-Jones' reverse layup to beat SMU and his runner to stun UConn.
The Shockers have won nine of their past 11 games to revive their season after a 1-6 start to conference play. They will need to play better from here on it if they want to advance. Allowing Tulane to make 16 of 29 shots in the second half is the type of performance that will lose a game against tougher competition. Tulane guard Caleb Daniels scored 36 points on 11-of-17 shooting and operated in the lane far too easily against the Shockers.
The Shockers struggled from behind the arc (6 of 24). Again, Wichita State's depth showed up to keep pace on a night when
Markis McDuffie (14 points on 4-of-9 shooting) and
Samajae Haynes-Jones (15 on 6-of-14 shooting) didn't carry the offense.
Center
Jaime Echenique scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Guard
Ricky Torres added eight points, his second-highest total this season.
Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler scored all eight of his points in the first half.
McDuffie made 5 of 7 foul shots and handed out four assists, his most in conference play. Haynes-Jones made 3 of 8 three-pointers.
The American schedule played out perfectly over the past two weeks. The conference's top teams met, sometimes twice, for games that helped NCAA resumes and made for great TV and publicity.
That is how the American wants it – it schedules with preseason picks in mind to give top teams opportunities for important wins. Over the past two weeks, Central Florida moved into a strong NCAA position with a win at then-No. 8 Houston and at home over Cincinnati. On Saturday, Temple helped its NCAA chances with a win over No. 25 UCF.
On Sunday, No. 12 Houston plays at No. 20 Cincinnati with the regular-season title at stake. The Cougars clinched a share of the title and the top seed in the tournament. Cincinnati trails Houston by one game and can share the title with a win.
The American goes into Sunday with three teams confident of their NCAA spots and a fourth on the rise. CBS cameras will broadcast the Houston-Cincinnati matchup.
The conference office should enjoy this.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
