Written by Austin Fackler
ORLANDO, Fla. - Wichita State's first ever appearance in the AAC Mens Basketball tournament started out with success as the held off Temple's upset bit for a 89-81 victory.
The second round action between the Wichita State Shockers and the Temple Owls got off to a fast start with the Shockers converting an and-1 on their first possession of the game following that up with two three pointers from Landry Shamet to give the Shockers a 5 point lead heading into the first media timeout. Temple would give the Shockers all they could handle though keeping the lead short as they were able to cut it down do 4 with just under 8 to play in the first half. With under 4 minutes to play the Owls were able to get the lead down to 3 but after some back and forth Wichita State guard Landry Shamet hit a three just before the buzzer to give the Shockers a 6 point lead heading into halftime.
Shamet led the way for the Shockers hitting 5 three pointers and ending the half with 17 points. For the Owls it was Junior guard Shizz Alston Jr. and Josh Brown who both contributed 8 to help the Owls stay close throughout the first half.
Temple came out of the half strong cutting the Shocker lead down to 1 but the Shockers would not stay quiet for long going on a quick 6-0 run to get their lead up to seven 50-43 at the first media timeout. Wichita State quickly grew there lead to 10 with 13:30 to play in the second half. After two quick steals and a 10-2 run the Owls cut the lead down to 2, after some back and forth between the two teams Wichita State was able to pull away and get their lead to 10 with 4:46 remaining in the game.
Down the stretch the Owls would not go away cutting the Shockers lead multiple times but the lowest it would get is 3 with 2:23 left in the game. The rim was not being kind to the Owls however as they missed a layup that would have cut the lead to 1 but that is as close as the Shockers would let it get as they would pull away yet again at the end and keep the lead this time coming away with a 89-81 win.
The Shockers were led by Landry Shamet who scored 24 points 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Rahshard Kelly also pitched in with 16 points and 7 rebounds. The Owls leading scorer was Qunitin Rose who finished with 25 points. The Shockers move on to face the winner of Houston/UCF on Saturday night.
The second round action between the Wichita State Shockers and the Temple Owls got off to a fast start with the Shockers converting an and-1 on their first possession of the game following that up with two three pointers from Landry Shamet to give the Shockers a 5 point lead heading into the first media timeout. Temple would give the Shockers all they could handle though keeping the lead short as they were able to cut it down do 4 with just under 8 to play in the first half. With under 4 minutes to play the Owls were able to get the lead down to 3 but after some back and forth Wichita State guard Landry Shamet hit a three just before the buzzer to give the Shockers a 6 point lead heading into halftime.
Shamet led the way for the Shockers hitting 5 three pointers and ending the half with 17 points. For the Owls it was Junior guard Shizz Alston Jr. and Josh Brown who both contributed 8 to help the Owls stay close throughout the first half.
Temple came out of the half strong cutting the Shocker lead down to 1 but the Shockers would not stay quiet for long going on a quick 6-0 run to get their lead up to seven 50-43 at the first media timeout. Wichita State quickly grew there lead to 10 with 13:30 to play in the second half. After two quick steals and a 10-2 run the Owls cut the lead down to 2, after some back and forth between the two teams Wichita State was able to pull away and get their lead to 10 with 4:46 remaining in the game.
Down the stretch the Owls would not go away cutting the Shockers lead multiple times but the lowest it would get is 3 with 2:23 left in the game. The rim was not being kind to the Owls however as they missed a layup that would have cut the lead to 1 but that is as close as the Shockers would let it get as they would pull away yet again at the end and keep the lead this time coming away with a 89-81 win.
The Shockers were led by Landry Shamet who scored 24 points 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Rahshard Kelly also pitched in with 16 points and 7 rebounds. The Owls leading scorer was Qunitin Rose who finished with 25 points. The Shockers move on to face the winner of Houston/UCF on Saturday night.