WICHITA, Kan. _ If you were looking for a definitive performance by No. 11 Wichita State heading into American Athletic Conference play, Friday's game against Florida Gulf Coast at Koch Arena wasn't it.
The Shockers failed to deliver a crisp performance on either end to bury a FGCU team that had recently lost to teams such as Florida Atlantic, Oral Roberts, and Florida International. After so many home blowouts last season, fans at Koch Arena once again had to watch a nervous final 20 minutes.
Landry Shamet came through with the steady offense, then Darral Willis came through with the timely plays to power Wichita State to a 75-65 victory to conclude its non-conference slate with a 10-2 record. FGCU lost for the fifth time in its last six games and fell to 7-7.
Shamet finished with 23 points on 8 of 12 shooting, as the rest of the team combined for 52 points on 14 of 44 shooting (31.8 percent). Willis struggled shooting (6 of 16) but finished with his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The game was tied at 61 with four minutes remaining, then WSU outscored FGCU 14-4 down the stretch.
Shaquille Morris, who finished with five blocks, and Shamet gave WSU a 65-61 lead with four free throws, then Willis scored a layup with 1:46 remaining to extend the lead to six. Conner Frankamp delivered the dagger with an end-of-shot-clock 3-pointer to give WSU a 70-63 lead with 1:03 remaining and also extend his school-record streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 33 straight games.
After leading by as many 13 points in the first half, WSU trailed by as many as seven in the second half before rallying for the victory.
Down 50-43 with 13:05 left, Samajae Haynes-Jones sparked a 7-0 run to tie the score with a jumper and 3-pointer. From there both teams wrestled with the lead to set up the decisive final four minutes.
The highlight of the first half was a 14-0 run by WSU, turning a 12-11 deficit into a 25-12 lead in less than four minutes. Rauno Nurger kicked off the spurt with a corner 3-pointer, then Shamet electrified the crowd with a smooth up-and-under layup that boosted WSU's lead to 10 and forced FGCU coach Joe Dooley to burn a timeout.
Shamet ratcheted up the decibel level even higher when he drilled a 3-pointer out of the timeout to stake WSU to its largest lead of the half. But outside of those four minutes, it was an uneven performance by the Shockers.
When its defense would string together stops, WSU's offense would come up empty. FGCU outscored WSU 19-8 to close out the half to draw within 35-33, as it drained 7 of 13 3-pointers. It was arguably the worst offensive half of the season for WSU, which scored at 0.92 points per possession (its second-lowest of the season) and shot 33 percent (worst shooting half of the season) from the floor.
