Tulsa's upset bid falls just short against No. 5 Wichita State

In a throwback game to the glory days of a great rivalry, fifth-ranked Wichita State was able to sustain a fanatical Tulsa comeback effort.

Sterling Taplin scored a career-high 26 points, but his last shot just missed tying the game, and Tulsa fell 72-69 to Wichita State on Saturday night in a frantic finish in front of a sellout crowd of 8,355 fans at the Reynolds Center.

“That was a heck of a ball game. I thought both teams really competed at a high level,” said Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall. “I expected that coming in. I’m just glad we survived and made one more basket than they did.

“If they play like that, they are going to win a lot of games.”

Despite getting down 11 points early in the second half and 10 points midway through the half, Tulsa (10-8, 3-3 AAC) came back and had chances to take the lead late in the game.

“Not rushing, being patient on the offensive end, playing defense, and rebounding led us back into the game,” Taplin said.

The most painful attempt at taking the lead was when former Wichita State guard Corey Henderson took a very similar shot to his game-tying three-pointer against UConn that sent that game into overtime. But this time, down 71-69, the contested shot from the right side spun out with 11 seconds left.

Still, after star Wichita State guard Landry Shamet missed the second free throw of a one-and-one with 8.4 seconds remaining, Tulsa had another shot. The Shockers chose to foul Taplin with 4.9 seconds left to keep TU from attempting a game-tying three.

But Taplin, who didn’t make the front end of a one-and-one, got his chance to tie it after Junior Etou rebounded his miss. Taplin had a good contested look from the left elbow, but the shot was just long, and the Shockers escaped.

Taplin’s 26 points included six of 10 on three pointers, and 10 of 17 overall, to go along with seven assists to only one turnover. He made some acrobatic driving shots down the stretch that spurred Tulsa and its fans on.

The Shockers' fan base made its presence felt throughout the game, making up at least half of the fans. Wichita State’s fans were a bit louder than Tulsa’s for most of the game, but Tulsa’s fans wouldn’t be outdone late, having the decibel level extremely high in the last minutes of the game.

The game had the feel of the Nolan Richardson era of the early to mid 1980’s where both Tulsa and Wichita State had top caliber teams in the then highly-esteemed Missouri Valley Conference when the rivalry was at its peak. Just the characters were changed, as was the venue from the old downtown Convention Center.

Wichita State (15-2, 5-0) withstood a terrific start by the Golden Hurricane where they got out to a 30-20 lead with under eight minutes to play in the first half. The Shockers’ defense then got tough, as they went on a 21-2 run that went into the second half and lasted over 11 minutes. The run peaked at 25-4 and the Shockers led 45-34 after a four-point play by Shamet.

Tulsa did a terrific job defending Shamet in the first half, holding him to five points on two of seven from the field and one of five three-pointers. But Shamet, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from Kansas City, Mo. Who leads the Shockers at 15.8 a game including 53.2 percent on three-pointers (42 of 79), caught fire in the second half, making three of four three-pointers.

Shamet and Conner Frankamp both led the Shockers with 16 points. Shamet finished with four of nine three-pointers and five of 12 from the field, while the sharpshooting Frankamp was six of 15 and four of 11, respectively, including three daggers in the second half.

In a physical game where neither team ever made it to the double-bonus, Wichita State controlled the boards at a 42-30 margin.

The Shockers are big and rough inside, with six of its 10 players who played being 6-6 or taller. Four of those players: Markis McDuffie, Darral Willis, Rauno Nurger and Shaquille Morris, are 6-8 or bigger. The foursome combined for 30 points and 22 rebounds.

Tulsa coach Frank Haith was more than a little displeased with the officials due to the lack of foul shots his team attempted, especially when compared to the Shockers. Wichita State made 12 of 15 free throws, while Tulsa made three of five.

“We’re 13th in the country in free throw attempts. We got 30 points in the paint, but we were unable to get to the free throw line like we normally do,” said a perturbed Haith, taking an obvious dig at the officials. “They (WSU) got to the line. We played zone too.

“I thought our guys battled hard. We gave ourselves a chance to win at the end, knowing normally something we usually do is get to the paint. Like I said, we had 30 points in the paint, and we still didn’t get to the line. Our guys kept fighting through it.”

Junior Etou’s free throw to convert a three-point play with 4:22, which pulled Tulsa to within five points at 63-58, was only the Golden Hurricane’s third free throw attempt of the game.

Etou had a tough game for most of the night as the Shockers continually roughed him up. However, he score eight of his 12 points and five of his seven rebounds in the second half, finishing four of 10 from the field. He came into the contest averaging 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds.

Henderson, who spent his freshman season at Wichita State, had 14 points, making four of nine three-pointers, and five of 11 overall, including a three that cut the margin to 68-66 with 2:09 remaining.

In an interesting personnel move, Lawson Korita played 18 minutes in the second half, and 26 overall. Starting his fifth game of the season, Korita, averaging 10.7 minutes and 2.8 points, had his only shot attempt blocked, but his overall game was sound, contributing five rebounds and one assist to no turnovers.

Martins Igbanu, Tulsa’s only true inside presence at 6-7, got off to a good start with four early points but picked up his second foul with Tulsa leading 13-7 with 13:46 left in the first half. With Tulsa floundering late in the half, Haith took a risk and put Igbanu back in the game. He finished with six points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes.

Although obviously disappointed with the outcome, Taplin was encouraged by the game.

“Wichita State is number five in the country, and we showed that we could compete with anyone,” Taplin said. “It gives us great confidence.”

Everyone seemed to be pleased that Wichita State and Tulsa are back in the same conference for the first time in 22 years.

“I’m really excited about Wichita State being in the league,” Haith said. “The last couple years you see expansion decisions being made, and it was all based on football. So it was great to see a decision made on basketball. They’re a great addition to our league.”