by TULSA, Okla. – The Wichita State men’s basketball team lost their first game of the season, falling to Tulsa 77-67 on Tuesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The loss snaps a seven-game winning streak for the Shockers vs. Tulsa.
Ron Baker (Citizen Potawatomi Tribe) led all scorers with 23 points and had four steals. Baker played 39 out of a possible 40 minutes. Newcomer Anton Grady added 16 points and nine rebounds. Fred VanVleet had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Shaquille Harrison led Tulsa’s scorers with 20 points and five rebounds. Marquel Curtis added 16 points and four assists, and Pat Birt chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds.
The Shockers closed out the first half on a 9-0 run in the final 1:18 to lead 31-30 going into the break. All nine points were three-pointers by VanVleet, the first one coming from almost 30 feet out as the shot clock expired. VanVleet led the Shockers in scoring in the first half with 11 points. Baker had nine points, four rebounds, and three steals. Tulsa’s Curtis had eight points, and three other players had five in the half to lead the Golden Hurricane.
The teams combined for 15 turnovers in the first half, ten of them coming in just under a four-minute span. There were fewer whistles than in the first half of the first game, as both teams committed eight fouls apiece. WSU shot 37% from the floor in the half. Tulsa outscored the WSU bench 11-0 going into the break.
The Shockers shot 20-55 (36.4%) from the floor, and were outrebounded by the Golden Hurricane 38-32…The Shockers never led for the final 17:10 of the game…The teams combined for 23 turnovers and committed 46 fouls in the game…The Wichita State bench only scored eight points in the game, as compared to the 48 points scored last game against Charleston Southern.
Head coach Gregg Marshall will be going for his 400th career win as the Shockers will next host Emporia State on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2:00 p.m.
