WSU Sports
Bryan Holmgren, Assistant Director for Media Relations
WICHITA, Kan. – No. 22/21 Wichita State hit 14 threes to squash visiting UConn, 95-74, Saturday evening and earn head coach Gregg Marshall his 150th victory at Charles Koch Arena.
Marshall has lost just 21 campus home games in 11 seasons at WSU for an .877 winning percentage.
The Shockers shot 50 percent from long range, drilling 14-of-28 attempts. The effort fell one shy of the school’s single-game record but nonetheless made history. It was the team’s 14th game with double-digit threes, breaking their mark from a season ago when they did it 13 times in 36 contests.
Landry Shamet scored a team-high 16 points to go with four assists and two steals for WSU (19-5, 9-3 American)
Eleven Shockers played double-digit minutes and nine of them scored at least six points. WSU reserves accounted for nearly half of the team’s scoring output with 46 points.
Conner Frankamp snapped out of a shooting funk to hit 4-of-5 threes on his way to 14 points, and Shaquille Morris (12) and Darral Willis Jr. (10) joined him in double-figures. Rashard Kelly led the rebounding (10) and assists (5) while committing just one turnover.
Jalen Adams and Terry Larrier paced UConn (12-13, 5-7 American) with 22 points each.
WSU outrebounded UConn 40-24 with help from 15 offensive rebounds. Five of those belonged to Kelly, who is currently the conference leader in that category.
The Shockers finished with 24 assists on 33 baskets while committing only nine turnovers. The ratio was even better in the first 20 minutes when WSU recorded assists on 17 of its 19 baskets (the other two came on offensive rebound putbacks) against just two turnovers.
WSU had offensive success, both inside and out, during the first half. Up 12-7 near the 14:46 mark, Markis McDuffie hit a three and Austin Reaves followed with back-to-back triples to open up a 21-7 margin.
The lead never again dropped below 10.
The teams traded punches until the 8:00-mark when Christian Vital hit a triple to pull the Huskies to within 33-23.
The Shockers answered with a 16-4 push that began with a Morris dunk and ended with consecutive threes from Shamet, Reaves and Willis and a 49-27 advantage with 3:31 remaining in the half.
The Shockers were 9-of-18 from deep in the first half to build a 55-33 lead at the intermission.
Aside from a 7-0 push near the 17:15 mark of the second half that cut the gap to 18, UConn never mounted much of a threat. WSU scored the next three buckets and kept the margin north of 20 points the rest of the way.
A regular season sweep of UConn gives the Shockers a 2-1 lead in the all-time series.
Shamet’s 23 minutes was the most of any Shocker player. Factor in a five-day break between games, and WSU figures to be well-rested when Temple (15-10, 7-6) comes to town next Thursday night for a 6 p.m. CT tip on ESPN2.