HOUSTON — The resolve of the Wichita State men’s basketball team was on display in front of a national audience, but grit alone wasn’t enough to beat Houston on its home court.
The No. 12-ranked Cougars withstood a late rally from Wichita State in a 76-66 win on Saturday at the Fertitta Center, as Houston moved to 5-0 at home against the Shockers in the American Athletic Conference era.
Wichita State (9-5, 0-2 AAC) lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, while Houston (14-2) improved to 3-0 in conference play. The Shockers are still looking for their first win in Houston since 1960.
“We showed our fight, but we only showed it for a small period of time,” WSU junior Dexter Dennis said. “I think we have to start showing we’re capable of doing it for more than five minutes.”
The Shockers stunned Houston’s crowd by turning what seemed poised to be a blowout, with the Cougars leading by 15 points with 8:41 remaining, into a two-possession game with a 9-0 run that trimmed Houston’s lead to 65-59 with more than five minutes left.
WSU would have two chances to cut further into the lead. The first was a good look from Dennis, who misfired on a 3-point attempt. The second proved fatal, as Tyson Etienne’s first pass of the possession to the wing was picked off by Houston’s Jamal Shead and turned into a layup to extend the Cougars’ lead to 67-59 with 3:53 remaining.
“That’s what hurt us the most: live-ball turnovers,” Etienne said. “Those create a numbers advantage for them in transition.”
It was the story of the game for the Shockers, who actually limited their turnovers (14 total) under what Houston’s top-tier defense typically forces but negated that accomplishment by allowing the Cougars to score an astonishing 26 points (1.86 points per possession) off turnovers.
Following the costly turnover from Etienne, WSU never threatened again.
“We have some mentally tough guys that just kept battling in there,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said. “We got four or five stops and we cut it to a two-possession game, then we come down and we just had a careless turnover and they went down and got a layup. We gave up too many points off of turnovers.”
Another reason for WSU’s demise was that it failed to contain Houston’s center Josh Carlton, a 6-foot-11 senior who scored a career-high 30 points earlier this week. Carlton delivered a second straight standout performance, finishing with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds — 10 of them on the offensive end.
Carlton was able to capitalize even more because he constantly had his counterpart, Morris Udeze, in foul trouble, which limited the Houston native to just 18 minutes before he fouled out with 3:03 left. That almost always had WSU outmatched down low with either true freshman Kenny Pohto or an undersized forward playing up a spot against Carlton.
“We couldn’t handle the big boy in the paint,” Brown said. “He was too much.”
The Shockers made 40.4% of their shots from the field, but just 26.1% from beyond the arc in a 6-for-23 performance. The tandem of Etienne and Dennis led WSU with a combined 21 points, although the duo needed 26 shots to do so. Monzy Jackson (nine points, eight rebounds) and Ricky Council IV (eight points, six rebounds) led a strong bench showing, while Craig Porter added eight points, four rebounds and four assists.
Houston’s aggressive style of double-teaming the post and ball screens forced the WSU coaching staff to switch to its dribble-drive offense, relying almost entirely on its guards to create an advantage off the bounce. When it worked, the Shockers were almost always able to find a good look in paint (50% two-point shooting). But when it failed, WSU was left with too many tough looks beyond the 3-point line.
“You almost have to play dribble-drive against them because if you throw it in the post, they’re going to ambush you and if you get in ball screens, they’re going to ambush you,” Brown said. “You have to have some real dudes in those ball screens that can handle it or it’s going to be tough.”
There were some nervy moments early when the first two minutes of the game played out like a worst-case scenario for the Shockers, as they turned the ball over twice and watched Houston bury them in an 8-0 hole. Crisis was averted by back-to-back jumpers from Etienne, followed by a 3-pointer from Joe Pleasant to trim Houston’s lead to 10-8. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair between the two sides before Houston took a 36-31 halftime lead.
Houston would push WSU to the brink, extending its lead to 10, then the Shockers would show their resolve and battle back. The deficit for WSU fluctuated between three and seven points for the final eight minutes, as the same sequence played out: WSU would rally when pressed, but never could produce the extra stop or score to completely erase the deficit.
The 0-2 start in conference play is not what WSU’s players imagined, but losses to Memphis and Houston — the two most talented teams in the league — aren’t necessarily alarming. The Shockers seemed resolute to carry over the positive momentum built at the end of the Houston game into their home game against Tulane on Wednesday.
“There’s definitely some urgency because we know we have to dig in,” Etienne said. “We understand there are games to be won. Just because we lost two games doesn’t mean our season is over. We’ve got to come back and defend our home court and continue to get better. We have faith that it’s all going to work out. Any moment could be the moment where it clicks for us. We’re still working to that point. Nobody is losing faith, nobody is losing hope in our locker room.”
