The RoundHouse | 1/30/2021 6:39:00 PM
Wichita State and UCF traded baskets for much of the game's first 36 minutes and
Isaac Brown knew that had to change. The Knights, who aren't known for their scoring, looked like a smooth-running scoring machine for much of that time.
"We didn't bother them at all in the half court," said Brown, Wichita State's interim coach.
That changed in the final four minutes of regulation and in overtime. The Shockers, down eight points with 3:55 to play, rallied to force overtime and win 93-88 on Saturday at Koch Arena.
In Brown's words, UCF felt the Shockers (9-4, 5-2 American Athletic Conference) in those crucial minutes. A rarely used zone press which fell back into feisty man-to-man defense rattled the Knights.
"They hadn't seen it," guard
Tyson Etienne said. "We were able to speed them up. For us to be able to execute that with high stakes on the line is a great thing."
That three-quarter court press changed the flow of the game. UCF (4-7, 2-6) struggled to move the ball up court. Etienne and
Alterique Gilbert pestered the ball-handlers, forcing them to make decisions in ways they didn't have to earlier.
Dexter Dennis and Monzy Jackson swooped around to deflect passes and harass shooters. Center
Morris Udeze took two charges to provide the backstop of defense.
"We needed stops, stops at a fast pace," Udeze said. "No quit."
That effort ran time off the shot clock and ended the flow the Knights enjoyed most of the game.
"We still didn't defend at a high level in the second half, but they felt us a little more," Brown said.
Their regulation collapse started with a shot-clock violation with 3:12 remaining. The Shockers scored to cut the lead to 74-68.
"We knew we had to fight," Jackson said. "We knew we were still in the game."
A scrambling defensive effort with Shockers reaching, clawing and hustling led to another turnover when C.J. Walker threw the ball out of bound.
Udeze took a charge from Brandon Mahan. Etienne's three-pointer made it 74-72. Udeze took a charge from Jamille Reynolds and Dennis' free throws tied it 74-all.
"Those charges are huge," Etienne said. "I gave him a hug. He's a veteran guy. He makes them when they're on the line."
The game went into overtime at 77-all after the Shockers forced UCF into five turnovers in the final 3:12 and limited the Knights to three points, all on foul shots.
The Shockers fell behind again in overtime. They knew how to rally.
Down 84-79, they outscored UCF 14-4 to end the game. Wichita State made 9 of 11 foul shots in overtime. UCF missed five of six shots and committed two turnovers after building a five-point lead with 2:25 to play.
Etienne finished with 29 points, 21 in the second half. Jackson scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He grabbed two offensive rebounds in overtime, both of which led to baskets.
"Jackson – he gave us so much energy off the bench with our offensive rebounding," Brown said.
The Shockers knew they needed a bounce back after the ugly loss at Memphis to stay in the conference race. They started a stretch of three home games with a win to stay in second place.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
