WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Landry Shamet had 21 points and eight assists, Shaquille Morris added 20 points and No. 6 Wichita State rallied to beat scrappy, hot-shooting South Dakota State 95-85 on Tuesday night.
Conner Frankamp added 16 points, setting the school record by hitting a 3 in his 30th straight game, and the Shockers (7-1) slowly dug out of a 13-point second-half hole to beat the Jackrabbits (7-4) for their 23rd consecutive victory at Koch Arena.
Mike Daum hit seven 3-pointers and poured in 31 points for South Dakota State, wowing a number of pro scouts who turned out for the game. But he got into foul trouble and cooled off down the stretch, and the Jackrabbits couldn’t find enough offense from anybody else to hang with the Shockers.
Darral Willis Jr. had 13 points and Zach Brown had 10 for Wichita State. Tevin King scored 14 points for South Dakota State before fouling out in the final minutes.
The game was knotted 27-all midway through the first half when Daum hit one of his four first-half 3-pointers. That began a run over the next 5 minutes that pushed the Jackrabbits’ lead to 39-30, and silenced another crowd packed to the rafters of Koch Arena.
Daum wound up scoring 16 points in the first half, and the Jackrabbits — who were trounced just up the road by No. 2 Kansas a couple of weeks ago — shot 63 percent from the field in the first half.
South Dakota State twice pushed its advantage to 13 points early in the second half before Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall finally began slapping on a full-court press.
It was a big improvement over their leaky half-court defense.
The press cooled South Dakota State offensively, and the Shockers slowly chipped away at their deficit. Frankamp made three free throws, Morris knocked down a 3 and Rashard Kelly threw down a dunk to make it 76-all — the first time it was tied since the 9:09 mark of the first half.
Daum set an illegal screen to earn his fourth foul and a spot on the bench with 5:53 left, and back-to-back-to-back baskets by Morris in the paint made it 89-81 with 2:26 to go.
The Shockers were never threatened again.
BIG PICTURE
South Dakota State was fifth nationally in made 3-pointers entering the game, but the Shockers evidently forgot that part of the scouting report. They allowed the Jackrabbits to go 14 for 29 from beyond the arc, and that long-range shooting was nearly enough to spring the upset.
Wichita State proved it could beat an NCAA Tournament-caliber opponent on an off night, and that should bode well the rest of the season. The performance also gave Marshall plenty of teaching moments, especially on the defensive end, where lapses throughout the game nearly cost his team.
UP NEXT
South Dakota State plays Concordia of Nebraska on Friday night.
Wichita State visits Oklahoma State on Saturday.
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