WICHITA, Kan. --Â Dexter Dennis scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to lead rv/22 Wichita State to an 87-79 victory over UCF on Saturday evening at Charles Koch Arena.
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Wichita State (17-3, 5-2 American Athletic Conference) matched its regular season win total from last year and improved to 4-0 all-time against UCF (11-8, 2-5).
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Dennis was 4-of-8 from three-point range and pulled 11 rebounds to record his first double-double of the year.
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Four other Shockers also scored in double-figures.
Grant Sherfield finished with 14 points and matched his person-best with six assists.
Jaime Echenique added 14 points and seven rebounds to go with 11 points from
Erik Stevenson and 10 from
Trey Wade.
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A pair of reserves, Darin Green Jr. (18 points) and Tony Johnson Jr. (16), turned in big performances to lead the visiting Knights.
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Wichita State banked 20 assists on 24 baskets and effectively controlled the glass. The Shockers outrebounded UCF by 17 (45-28) and outscored the Knights 19-3 on second-chance opportunities.
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The Shockers shot 40 percent to UCF's 37.7 percent. Both sides were 10-of-26 from deep. WSU tied its season-high with 42 free throw attempts and made 29 of them. UCF was 23-of-26 (.885) from the line.
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UCF committed only seven turnovers and outscored the Shockers 23-7 on fast break points, helped by 10 steals.
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WSU led by as many as 16 points late in the first half, but UCF whittled the margin to nine at the intermission, helped by Johnson's full-court buzzer beater.
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The Shockers seemed poised to break it open on a handful of occasions, only for UCF to reel them back in. The Knights pulled to within four points near the midway point of the second half. Dennis answered with a deep three to key a 7-0 run.
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UCF connected on six threes over the final 10:00 to keep things tight, but the Shockers countered with 20 free throw makes.
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UP NEXT:
The Shockers are tied for third place with Cincinnati at 5-2 in the conference standings. They'll travel to face co-leader Tulsa (tied with Houston at 5-1) next Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPNU.