The RoundHouse | 3/14/2024 6:56:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop

It took Wichita State decades to record a signature tournament moment in St. Louis in its previous conference. In their seventh season as a member of the American Athletic Conference, the Shockers gutted their way to one in Fort Worth.

Thumbs up.
 
The 12th-seeded Shockers knocked off fifth-seeded Memphis 71-65 on Thursday in the second round of the AAC Championship. It is, for many reasons, the highlight of a difficult season.
 
All those difficulties, as coach Paul Mills says frequently, are part of the process. On Thursday, the Shockers got a reward for working and sticking together.
 
"You have to be tested," he said. "You have to go through those adversities. You have to understand them."
 
Mills told the Shockers the tougher team wins before Thursday's game.
 
The Shockers made him look good by building a 14-point lead, losing it, and then making the big plays and shots in the final minutes. The Tigers took a 58-57 lead with 3:30 to play. The Shockers closed by making five of their final seven shots. Memphis missed six of its final nine shots and committed a turnover.
 
 

SHOCKED EM 🌾

The @fortworthsports player of the game & Shockers' leading scorer said it was all about mental toughness 😤#AmericanHoops x @GoShockersMBB pic.twitter.com/1tbj5UnuZC

— The American (@American_Conf) March 14, 2024

 
 
The Shockers wobbled. They didn't fall. They get to celebrate.
 
"Mentally and physically, we were just the tougher team and it showed tonight," WSU guard Colby Rogers said.
 
Memphis coach Penny Hardaway had to agree. He warned his team of the dangers of playing an opponent a third time. In Memphis, the Tigers trailed WSU by 14 and finished the game on a 25-9 run for a 65-63 win. That, Hardaway said, is hard to do again.
 
"They were the hungrier team," he said at the post-game news conference. "We came out like we had another game tomorrow."
 
WSU (15-18) plays fourth-seeded UAB (20-11) at 2 p.m. Friday (ESPN2) in a quarterfinal at Dickies Arena. WSU entered the week 5-5 in the tournament with three close semifinal losses their deepest advancements.
 
In 2019, the sixth-seeded Shockers topped third-seeded Temple 80-74 – their lone tournament win over a higher seed - with Markis McDuffie scoring 34 points. If that was the previous standard, Thursday's win over Memphis tops that easily.
 
Memphis (22-10) is the biggest remaining name in the reconfigured AAC. Its resources, history and high-profile coach figure to make the Tigers a measuring stick, even as underachievers.
 
Beating Memphis matters for all those reasons. Ending its NCAA hopes is the most satisfying feeling of the season for Wichita State fans. WSU enjoys a deep history with Tulsa, but Memphis is a bigger obstacle and a bigger pain.
 
The Tigers tormented the Shockers in their two regular-season wins. They took a celebratory picture mocking Wichita State with a "thumbs down" in the Koch Arena visitors locker room in January. The Tigers beat Wichita State eight straight times and 10 of the past 11, a run that started in 2019. They did not disguise their glee in dunking and running over the Shockers.
 
On Thursday, the Shockers had their fun. Their thumbs, after the buzzer, won social media smack talk in March.
 
"We didn't fold," Rogers said. "It shows hard work pays off when you just stay faithful, stay determined."
 
Wichita State needed a complete effort and got one.
 
To beat Memphis, the Shockers had to limit turnovers. They finished with 12. They had to score after beating Memphis' press and Harlond Beverly took care of that in the final minute. WSU held the Tigers to 36.2 percent shooting, outscored them 12-2 on second-chance points and 13-7 on fast breaks.
 
"We learned a lot those first two games (against Memphis)," Beverly said. "I feel like what we learned in those first two games really propelled us."
 
Rogers made the game's biggest shot, a closely contested three with 2:26 to play to give WSU a 62-58 lead. Ronnie DeGray III grabbed an offensive rebound through a defender and scored for a 64-58 lead with 1:33 to play. Beverly finished off the Tigers with two layups in the final minute. He recorded 17 points, six rebounds, five blocks, five steals and three assists.
 
Bijan Cortes played a season-high 31 minutes and scored 11 points with five assists. Xavier Bell recorded five assists. Quincy Ballard blocked three shots, grabbed eight rebounds and scored eight points. Hardaway pointed to his dunk off a lob pass from Cortes with 3:08 to play as a backbreaker.
 
"We knew that play was coming," he said.
 
For all Wichita State's basketball success, conference tournament lore is not abundant. On Thursday, the Shockers created a good memory in Fort Worth and activated March Madness just a bit.
 
Mills declined to get too excited. He is focused on the difficult task of winning three more games.
 
"You expect to win this time of year," he said. "Everybody in that locker room showed up. Everybody is here to do the same thing and that's win a championship. We're not even halfway there."
 
Not even halfway and each game gets tougher. Shocker fans, however, are going to remember this one, no matter how the rest of the weekend plays out.

 

Ballard JAMS it home 😤

Shockers up double-digits!#AmericanHoops x @GoShockersMBB pic.twitter.com/9HOXKIVBXL

— The American (@American_Conf) March 14, 2024

 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.