STILLWATER, Okla. _ This was a game Landry Shamet would not let Wichita State lose.
No. 6 Wichita State had more turnovers than points 12 minutes into the game, but Shamet pulled his team out of its funk with a career-high 30 points to help deliver a 78-66 victory over Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena. WSU improved to 8-1 on the season.
Conner Frankamp delivered his sixth straight double-digit scoring game with 14 points, while Darral Willis came through timely with 12 points and six rebounds. Rashard Kelly added five points, seven rebounds, and three steals.
WSU won the rebounding battle (36-26 over OSU) for the 14th straight game, while holding the Cowboys to 40 percent shooting and forcing 15 turnovers. The Shockers finished shooting 44 percent with 19 turnovers.
Shamet was at his best when it mattered most, scoring 23 points in the second half. He made 5 of 8 shots in the second, including all three of his 33-pointers, and was 10 of 12 from the free-throw line to go along with three assists to help the Shockers to their most efficient offensive half of the season.
Wichita State scored 1.49 points per possession in the 35 second-half possessions.
There might not be a worst stretch of offensive basketball played this season by WSU than the opening 14 minutes.
It was a brutal beginning, as the Shockers had more turnovers (12) than points (9) after 23 possessions and less than six minutes remaining in the first half. Yet WSU never trailed by more than eight points.
That's because WSU's defense was able to lock up Oklahoma State. The Cowboys finished the first half shooting just under 32 percent with 11 turnovers.
That opened the door for WSU to rally, as it won the final three minutes of the half 8-0 to grab a 26-23 halftime lead. Shamet scored the final five points, giving WSU its first lead since the opening minutes with a 3-pointer to break the 23-all tie right before halftime.
Both offenses improved in the second half.
The two teams traded the lead for the first nine minutes of the second half until a Rauno Nurger pop-out 3-pointer gave WSU a 49-46 lead with 11:15 remaining.
The Shockers' lead dwindled to as few as two and grew to as many as 11.
Oklahoma State cut WSU's lead to 65-61 with 2:38 remaining, then Shamet extended the lead for WSU with two more free throws. After OSU's Kendall Smith missed two free throws on the other end, Austin Reaves delivered the dagger with an end-of-shot-clock 3-pointer to give WSU a 70-61 lead.
Now WSU fans can play the guessing game on how high the Shockers will move up in the Associated Press poll come Monday afternoon after No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Kansas, and No. 5 Florida all lost this week.
