University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Wichita State
Wichita State escapes late, 63-60, despite furious Southern Miss rally
12/15/2018 8:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WICHITA, Kan. -- The Southern Miss men's basketball team trailed 52-36 with 10 minutes to play, then took the lead on Dominic Magee's reverse layup with 53 seconds left, but the Wichita State Shockers collected enough free-throws and rebounds to take a 63-60 victory Saturday afternoon.
The game was played in the downtown INTRUST Bank Arena in front of 9,356 fans and a CBS Sports Network broadcast.Â
The Golden Eagles in-bounded the ball down 63-60 with 14 seconds left, and Tyree Griffin was fouled hard on a three-pointer at the wing with less than a second remaining. Unable to shoot the free-throws due to the rough fall to the floor, Wichita State elected Leonard Harper-Baker to take the final three shots. His first two missed, and his intentional misfire on the third attempt did not result in a final shot.
"Normally, when you come into a place like this, you'd be happy as heck to have an opportunity like that at the end," head coach Doc Sadler said. "That's what you play for, to have a few minutes left and still be in the basketball game. You can't give up the offensive rebounds on the free-throw and jump shot in the last couple of minutes."
Wichita State (6-4) got its winning bucket on an alley-oop with 36 seconds left. Magee's baseline jumper for the lead missed, and Wichita State drew a foul that led to a made free-throw and miss. The Shockers grabbed the offensive rebound and went 1-for-2 again to set themselves up for the win.Â
"I've got to give my guys credit," Sadler said. "We were down 17 and kept coming back to take the lead. I wanted to go back man-to-man that last possession because I knew [Wichita State head coach] Gregg Marshall would do something, but I didn't. We went to zone, and they are just too big at the basket. Overall, these guys on my team have been through a lot, and to play a program that has had such a successful run the last 10 years and playing them competitively was a good feeling. I'm disappointed we didn't win, but I told the team that this year, we won't go into any game not expecting an opportunity to win."
Southern Miss took a 12-11 lead at 10:17, but the Shockers rallied back for a 20-16 advantage at 7:10. Despite a three-pointer that put Wichita State ahead 29-21 in the last 2:20, the Golden Eagles fought back the noise and pressure to take a manageable 33-25 deficit into the locker room.Â
The Black and Gold held Wichita State off the board for the first three minutes of the second half, staying within 33-27, before a 13-2 run rallied the home crowd again.
Southern Miss (7-3) will remain in the Sunflower State as it prepares to take on Kansas State, Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT.Â
NOTABLE
-The only other meeting between the teams came in Dec. 2012, also played at INTRUST Bank Arena.
-Cortez Edwards' two steals (154)Â puts him one away from Clarence Weatherspoon for fifth all-time at Southern Miss.Â
-Edwards now has 1,106 points, 11 away from catching John Vitrano for No. 31 all-time.
-His seven rebounds put him eight away from becoming the fourth Golden Eagle all-time to register 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists.
-Southern Miss' 52 shot attempts were one away from a season-low.
-Leonard Harper-Baker played a career-high 34 minutes.
-Tyree Griffin collected a game-high eight assists. He has recorded seven or more six times this year.
