Saturday’s box score
WICHITA ST. 76, OKLAHOMA 73
WSU | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
McDuffie | 22 | 2-10 | 0-1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Willis | 23 | 4-7 | 4-6 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
Nurger | 7 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Shamet | 27 | 3-10 | 0-0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
Smith | 21 | 3-5 | 6-6 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
Morris | 30 | 3-6 | 1-2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Brown | 22 | 4-6 | 6-6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 |
Frankamp | 20 | 2-7 | 0-2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
Reaves | 16 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
Kelly | 12 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Totals | 200 | 25-63 | 17-23 | 40 | 16 | 23 | 76 |
Percentages: FG .397, FT .739. 3-Point Goals: 9-28, .321 (Brown 3-4, Reaves 2-4, Frankamp 2-7, Smith 1-2, McDuffie 1-3, Kelly 0-1, Nurger 0-2, Shamet 0-5). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 7 (Morris 5, Brown 2). Turnovers: 12 (Kelly 2, McDuffie 2, Shamet 2, Smith 2, Willis 2, Frankamp, Reaves). Steals: 4 (Smith 2, Kelly, McDuffie). Technical Fouls: None.
Okla. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Buford | 19 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Lattin | 26 | 0-3 | 3-4 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
James | 33 | 3-17 | 8-10 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
Odomes | 24 | 3-8 | 4-6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
Woodard | 34 | 7-17 | 10-10 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 28 |
Strng-Mre | 23 | 0-5 | 0-1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
Doolittle | 18 | 3-6 | 2-3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
McNeace | 14 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
McGusty | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Freeman | 2 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Shepherd | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 20-65 | 27-34 | 35 | 11 | 23 | 73 |
Percentages: FG .308, FT .794. 3-Point Goals: 6-21, .286 (Woodard 4-9, Freeman 1-2, James 1-5, Buford 0-2, Strong-Moore 0-3). Team Rebounds: 11. Blocked Shots: 9 (Lattin 4, McNeace 2, Buford, Doolittle, James). Turnovers: 10 (Buford 2, James 2, Strong-Moore 2, Woodard 2, McNeace, Odomes). Steals: 8 (James 2, Lattin 2, Woodard 2, Doolittle, Odomes). Technical Fouls: None.
Wichita St. | 37 | 39 | — | 76 |
Oklahoma | 39 | 34 | — | 73 |
A—11,157 (18,203).
Back after many years
Former Shockers Glen Boyer, Herb Coin, Bob Hodgson, Jim Strathe and Paul Scheer watched Saturday’s game as guests of the Oklahoma City All-Sports Association.
All but Scheer, who graduated the previous season, played on the 1954-55 team that went 2-1 in the 1954 All-College Tournament.
The Shockers lost their opener to eventual NCAA champion San Francisco, and Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, 94-75.
The Shockers played in the All-College, which began in 1936, eight times between 1954-70. They won it in 1961 (defeating Houston, Utah State and Baylor) and 1964 (defeating Montana State, Oklahoma City and Texas A&M).
Shockers such as Cleo Littleton (1954), Ron Heller (1960) and Gene Wiley (1960, 1961), Ernie Moore (1961, 1963) and Dave Stallworth (1963) made the all-tournament team. Stallworth and Lanny Van Eman (1960) were named tournament MVP.
Its status as one of the nation’s top events declined as tournaments in exotic locales flourished. By 2000, it became a one- or two-game format, usually featuring Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
Keep track of the ball
Wichita State’s goal for turnovers is 12. After nine in the first half, leading to 11 Oklahoma points, the Shockers knew that trend had to change.
“We were just sloppy,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We were traveling, we had bad footwork. We had a couple of bad passes.”
The Shockers sharpened up in the second half. They committed three turnovers, leading to three Sooner points, even as OU applied more and more pressure.
“Just a sense of urgency,” WSU guard Daishon Smith said. “We understood we were down. You only have these opportunities once.”
WSU took advantage of that pressure twice in the final minutes. Marshall credited special assistant Chris Jans with devising a play that produced two layups for Landry Shamet against OU pressure.
“He got a little backscreen from the (center),” Marshall said. “We put that in strictly because of a great scout that (Jans) and (assistant coach Greg) Heiar put together. I’ve got to give them credit for a wonderful alteration to our system.”
Shamet scored to give WSU a 61-54 lead. Then he answered an OU three-pointer with another layup to give WSU a 63-57 lead.
“You can’t have those breakdowns,” OU coach Lon Kruger said.
More trips on I-35
Marshall said Kruger gave the game good reviews and they briefly discussed more games between the teams.
“Coach Kruger — he’s done it all as a coach …,” Marshall said. “He said, ‘Let’s maybe talk about extending this, this is good for all of us.’ ”
OU will visit Intrust Bank Arena next season.
“I thought it was a great crowd,” Marshall said. “Lot of yellow and black. And a lot of crimson. It was impressive. Tremendous (officiating) crew. It had a big-time feel to it, kind of an NCAA Tournament-feel to it, to me.”
Shocker fans accounted for around 4,000 of the 11,157 fans in the arena. While most of their seats were in the upper level — OU season-ticket holders and corporate sponsors claimed most of the lower bowl — WSU fans made noise to rival the home team.
“It was amazing,” WSU junior Zach Brown said. “I was so proud of our fans and the support they showed, driving 2 1/2 hours to come see us play. A lot of teams, they don’t really get that. We’re truly blessed to have fans like that.”
No, you be quiet
Oklahoma’s Christian James celebrated his first-half three-pointer by staring hard at the WSU bench and fans seated behind the players and coaches.
He did not react similarly after the nine shots he missed in the first half.
WSU fans returned fire by yelling at James as he jogged away.
Soon after, official John Higgins warned Marshall that he had the power to remove those fans, which included Marshall’s family, from those seats.
Worth noting
Oklahoma leads the series 4-2, with the Shockers winning the previous meeting, 65-60 in 1975. … WSU’s bench totaled 40 points, outscoring OU reserves by 27 points. Shocker reserves have scored 40 or more points in 10 of 11 games. … Brown’s previous career high was 16 points agianst Missouri Stsate last season. Brown made all six of his foul shots and is 17 of 19 in the past four games, after a stretch in which he missed 7 of 8 in three games. … Smith also made all six of his foul shots and is 20 of 22 this season. … WSU freshman C.J. Keyser, who missed Tuesday’s game due to academic suspension, suited up Saturday. … WSU continues to run into opposing players from Sunrise Christian Academy. OU freshman Kameron McGusty, from Katy, Texas, played his senior year of high school at Sunrise.
Paul Suellentrop
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