Wichita State University Athletics
TULSA, Okla. (goshockers.com) –Wichita State used another big first half to secure its third straight road victory, this time taking down Tulsa, 86-75 on Sunday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 19 points and Craig Porter Jr. added 10 rebounds and seven assists for WSU (12-11, 5-6), which swept a home-and-home from its rival for the fifth time in six American Athletic Conference seasons.
James Rojas (17 points on 7-of-8 shooting), Jaykwon Walton (17 points) and Kenny Pohto (12 points, career-high six assists) also put up big numbers.
Helped by 14 first-half points from Pierre, the Shockers rolled to a 45-26 halftime lead and pushed the margin to as many as 24 points down the stretch.
The game followed a similar script to last Sunday when WSU piled up transition points early to build a 21-point halftime cushion over ECU before letting its foot off the gas.
This time Tulsa (5-17, 1-10) scored 28 points in the final 6:00 to thin the margin.
Tim Dalger put up 24 points and hit five of Tulsa’s 12 three-pointers. The Golden Hurricane shot 40% from three (42.4% overall) but were outscored 46-24 in the paint.
The Shockers shot 51.5% from the field and outrebounded the hosts, 43-32.
Tulsa went the first 29 minutes of game action without an offensive rebound and didn’t record a second-chance point until the 3:44-mark of the second half.
The Shockers trailed 13-12 early before exploding for six baskets in a stretch of just over three minutes. Back-to-back treys from Xavier Bell and Walton capped a 14-1 run that made it 26-14 midway through the first half.
Walton and Pierre combined for 11 points in another 13-2 flurry to close out the period.
The Shockers made 19-of-33 first-half shots (.576) and were plus-15 on the glass.
Tulsa scored the first two buckets out of the locker room before another Shocker onslaught, spurred by equal parts style and grit. Pohto made a pair of stick-backs, then found a cutting Walton in the paint for a two-hand-slam for a 61-37 lead with 13:28 to play.
Pohto showed off his passing once again to set up the play of the night, lobbing to Isaac Abidde for a back-door alley-oop that made it 71-47 with 6:07 left.
The Shockers didn’t handle prosperity well.
Tulsa’s followed that dunk with runs of 7-1 and 15-2. Dalger’s tip dunk with 36 seconds left cut the margin to 81-73, but that’s as close as the Hurricane would get.
NOTABLE:
The Shockers’ win, coupled with a UCF loss, moved WSU into sole possession of sixth-place in the conference standings. Each of the top-5 teams receive a first-round bye at next month’s American tournament in Fort Worth.
The Shockers are somehow better away from Charles Koch Arena. They’re 5-3 this year in true road games (4-2 AAC) compared to 6-6 at home (1-4 AAC).
WSU has won 19 of its last 22 against Tulsa.
UP NEXT:
The Shockers play host to UCF (Wednesday, 7 p.m., ESPN+) and SMU (Sunday, 3 p.m., ESPN2) this week.
