by LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Despite 25 points from Ron Baker –- one shy of his career high — and a breakout performance by freshman forward Markis McDuffie, No. 20 Wichita State fell 72-69 to Southern California, Thursday afternoon at HP Field House in quarterfinal action of the AdvoCare Invitational.
Baker (Citizen Potawatomi Tribe) matched his career-high with six three-pointers on 10 attempts and added five assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals. He also set a new personal-mark for field goal attempts, finishing 8-for-20 overall.
McDuffie — who had scored a combined five points in the Shockers’ three previous games – played a season-high 22 minutes and ended with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting (2-of-3 from beyond the arc). He also provided energy on the defensive end with four steals.
Bennie Boatwright went 5-for-9 from three-point range for a team-high 22 points to lead USC (5-0), and Nikola Jovanovic finished with a double-double at 14 points and 11 rebounds. Julian Jacobs dished out nine assists.
WSU (2-2) meets Alabama (2-2) in a Noon ET (11:00 a.m. CT) consolation semifinal on ESPN3.
WSU nearly pulled off a stunning comeback in the closing seconds, hacking a seven-point USC lead to two in a span of just seven ticks of the clock.
Anton Grady scored on a layup with 10 seconds to play in the game, the Shocker press forced a steal, and Baker connected on a three-pointer with just under 0:03 showing to make it a 71-69 game.
WSU fouled, and Julian Jacobs split a pair of free throws to make it a 72-69 USC lead with 2.1 seconds left.
Zach Brown got a long but makeable look from three that would have sent the game to overtime, but it glanced off the front iron, preserving the win for the Trojans.
The Shockers were outshot 45.5 percent to 35.1 percent from the field. They held USC to just 18 points in the paint but had difficulty containing the athletic Trojans on the perimeter.
USC connected on 12-of-23 three-point attempts (.522). WSU countered with nine treys but needed 29 attempts (.310).
WSU survived some of the shooting imbalance by collecting 19 offensive rebounds and forcing 23 Trojan turnovers. As a result, they tallied 74 field goal attempts to just 55 for USC.
Grady and Rashard Kelly shared the team lead with seven rebounds each, and the teams finished even on the boards at 42-42.
WSU fell into an early 12-5 hole some six-minutes in and spent the majority of the first half trying to dig itself out. Malik Martin’s three-pointer made it a 25-17 USC lead with 7:48 to play in the half.
The Shockers followed with their first big run, helped by a USC field goal drought that stretched for nearly six minutes.
Evan Wessel drove baseline and scored on a floater. Baker followed with a steal and fed McDuffie for a transition layup. McDuffie forced another that turned into points via a Baker free throw.
Ty Taylor II‘s drive tied the game at 26 with 3:06 to play in the half and capped a 9-1 Shocker run.
McDuffie drilled a triple with 1:32 to go, giving the Shockers their first lead of the day at 29-28, though USC would eventually regain the lead (30-29) heading into halftime.
WSU and USC traded bellows in the opening possessions of the second half with four lead changes in less than three minutes. Baker connected on a couple of threes, but USC built the margin back up to half a dozen with 14:55 remaining in the game.
The Shockers countered with a 12-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to build a six-point lead of their own. Baker and McDuffie teamed up for all 12 points.
McDuffie’s corner trey made it a 46-43 Shocker lead, and Baker upped it to 49-43 with 12:43 left on a three of his own.
USC, however, chipped away with seven-straight points in what turned into a 12-2 spurt and eventually a 61-54 advantage at the 6:58 mark.
In response, the Shockers pounded the ball inside with Kelly converting two free throws and Grady and Wamukota each scoring in the post to cut it to 61-60 with 4:55 left.
Boatright connected on a consecutive three-pointers, and Kevin Reinhardt added one more for USC to deal a seemingly fatal blow at 70-62 with 1:19 remaining.
WSU made its final push before the buzzer but came up short.
