Shockers bounce back in thumping of KState
Dec 22, 2024
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Wichita State outscored Kansas State by 23 after halftime, erasing a four-point halftime deficit in a resounding 84-65 win Saturday night in Charles Koch Arena.Wichita State (9-3) bounced back from a poor performance Tuesday night in a loss to Kansas City to record its first non-conference Power 4 win in Charles Koch Arena since defeating Baylor on Dec. 1, 2018. The win also snapped a five-game losing streak to the Wildcats.In front of a season-high 8,253 fans, Wichita State put on a second half show for the Shocker faithful. It was the largest home crowd since Nov. 12, 2022. The Shockers scored 55 points after halftime on 63.0 percent shooting. The 55 points were a season high in any half this season.Kansas native Xavier Bell entered the starting lineup for the first time this season and torched the Wildcats to the tune of a game and season-high 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Corey Washington recorded his second double-double of the season behind 18 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting and 4-of-4 at the free throw line.Quincy Ballard also finished with a double-double, tallying 10 points and 10 rebounds, while also blocking three shots. Justin Hill chipped in 13 points.Washington and Ballard are the first Shocker teammates with double-doubles in the same game since Dexter Dennis and Morris Udeze vs. Tulane on March 3, 2021.Wichita State finished the game shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 90.9 percent (20-for-22) at the charity stripe. On the other side, K-State managed to shoot only 36.2 percent overall, and missed 9-of-15 free throw attempts.Wichita State led for 17:34 of the first half and by as many as eight until K-State closed the half on a 15-4 run to grab a 33-29 lead at the half.The Shockers came out of the locker room and punched right back to immediately tie the game at 33-33, forcing a quick Wildcat timeout just 56 seconds in.With 16:47 to go K-State took its largest lead, 41-37, only to see the Shockers answer with a 7-0 spurt. Hill (5) and Bell (2) combined for all seven points during the run.K-State quickly had its own response with five in a row, jumping back on top, 45-44. But, that would be their final lead.At the 12:04 mark the game was tied at 48, but Wichita State finally started to grab control behind an 8-0 run. Nearly four minutes later Wichita State opened up its first double digit lead of the night behind a Bijan Cortes jumper, a Bell driving layup and a thundering alley-oop between Cortes and Ballard.Back-to-back scores from K-State cut the margin to eight with 4:57 remaining, but a Ballard tip-in prevented any thoughts of a Wildcat run.Washington’s second three-pointer followed by a K-State score and a Bell layup put Wichita State up 73-62. The lead would not shrink below 11 over the final 2:40.A 10-2 run put the bow on a much-needed win for the Shockers as they head into Christmas break.
Fresh off Christmas break, Wichita State closes non-conference play at home vs. Friends on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
GoShockers contributed to this report.