WICHITA, Kan. _ Not even a season-high 16 three-pointers from Temple.
Not even 56 first-half points, the most allowed by a Wichita State team under Gregg Marshall.
Not even a career-night when a 20 percent 3-pointer shooter made all of five of his 3s.
None of those things were enough to defeat No. 19 Wichita State on Thursday evening at Koch Arena. The Shockers overcame it all to beat the Owls, 93-86, then the celebration grew even louder when news came down that Houston had ended No. 5 Cincinnati's 16-game winning streak.
Just like that, Wichita State (20-5, 10-3 American) controlled its destiny to win at least a share of the American Athletic Conference championship again. The loss dropped Cincinnati to 12-1 in conference play, meaning WSU can win at least a share of the conference title if it wins out _ including two wins over Cincinnati, starting with Sunday's trip to the Bearcats' home.
Darral Willis and Shaquille Morris combined for 47 points, and Morris delivered a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Austin Reaves (11), Landry Shamet (10), and Conner Frankamp (10) all scored in double digits, as WSU shot 66.7 percent in the second half to trump Temple's 16 3-pointers and five double-digit scorers.
With the game tied at 81, WSU's defense produced back-to-back stops then Morris pulled down an offensive rebound and finished through contact for what became a three-point play for an 84-81 lead with 1:51 remaining. Temple's Josh Brown responded with a floater on the other end, but Zach Brown made two free throws with 1:16 left to push the lead back out to three.
Temple's Ernest Aflakpui made one of two free throws with 57 seconds left. Frankamp followed with a fadeaway jumper by the free-throw line for an 88-84 lead with 30 seconds left, but Temple's Brown made two free throws with 21 seconds to trim the lead to 88-86.
Markis McDuffie was fouled with 20 seconds left and missed his second free throw, but Zach Brown corralled the rebound and made two more free throws for a 91-86 lead to all but secure the win.
It didn't even take seven minutes for WSU to erase a 14-point halftime deficit, as the Shockers o utscored Temple 17-3 to tie the score at 59 when Frankamp floated a pass over the top of Temple's back-pedaling defense that led Brown straight to the rim for a lay-in with 13:24 remaining.
The run featured 11 points from Morris, who went to work in the low post and even stepped out to hit a pair of jumpers.
The Shockers then took their first lead of the game, 66-64, on a Willis 3-pointer with 11:31 remaining in the second half, as the senior scraped three fingers on the court and the crowd erupted. It was part of a 7-0 spurt that saw WSU take a 68-64 lead at one point before Temple rallied to make it a one-possession game down the stretch.
Temple opened the game making six of its first eight 3-pointers, the final a banked-in shot by a 22 percent 3-point shooter in J.P. Moorman, for a 27-12 lead after eight minutes. It felt similar to the barrage of 3s SMU used to end WSU's long winning streak at Koch Arena on Jan. 17.
But the Shockers had the initial response, as Willis made a 3 to kick off an 11-0 run that included a floater by Frankamp, a pair of McDuffie free throws, and a Morris 3 to cut Temple's lead to 27-23 in three minutes.
Temple's hot shooting from the outside continued. The Owls entered shooting under 35 percent for the season as a team on 3-pointers, but nearly 40 percent during their five-game winning streak.
De'Vondre Perry, a 20 percent shooter, canned a 3, then Obi Enechionyia, shooting 22 percent on 3s during AAC play, made his third straight 3 of the game and was fouled on another, making all three free throws. Josh Brown ended the barrage with a 3 just before halftime to build a 56-42 advantage.
Temple made 11 of 15 3-pointers and made all six free throws on two threes it was fouled on to generate 39 of its 56 points from 3-point shots.
It was a combination of Temple's shooters on a hot streak, but also WSU's defense failing to execute and leaving shooters with uncontested shots around the perimeter.
Once WSU tightened up its defense in the second half, it made the game-winning rally against Temple.
