Wichita State used a second half surge to spoil WKU Men’s Basketballs season opener Monday night at Diddle Arena, defeating the Hilltoppers 91-84. 

Despite strong performances from senior guard Don McHenry and senior forward Babacar Faye, the Shockers scored 48 to add to their 43 first half points to give them the road victory.

“Bottom line, disappointed we couldn’t get a win for the celebration of last year,” Head Coach Hank Plona said. “We all wanted to do everything to win tonight, so disappointed that the final result didn’t show that obviously. If we keep allowing 91 points, we’re going to have a hard time getting those wins.”

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Faye kept the momentum from the exhibition loss against UAB, scoring 28 points and grabbing eight boards. McHenry added 21 points, four rebounds, and four assists. A five-minute scoring drought midway through the second half gave Wichita State an 11-point lead with 1:45 remaining in the period.

Wichita State guard Justin Hill scored 31 points and added six assists and three steals. He was the game’s leading scorer, with four three-point baskets and nine made free throws.

“We did not do a good job at making him (Hill) uncomfortable in anything. Four threes and nine free throws and six assists, that’s a really good game,” Plona said. “And as a smaller guard, I was hoping a little more size and physicality to make him uncomfortable.”

The Hilltoppers won the rebound battle 43-42 with guard Braxton Bayless grabbing seven. WKU shot 6-25 from beyond the arc, a 24% mark. Meanwhile, the Shockers shot 40.7 from three.  They made nearly 50% of their field goals in the second half and grabbed five steals.

“We cannot be one or two-dimensional on offense, you get a little predictable and easy to guard,” Plona said. “So we certainly have to look at the tape and figure it out.”

The Hilltoppers will travel to Phoenix to take on Grand Canyon on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. 

First Half:

Wichita State won the tip and jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but five early points by Faye helped WKU tie the game less than four minutes in. The teams traded leads midway through the first, before six straight points by McHenry gave WKU a 19-15 lead with 11:13 remaining.

The Hilltoppers extended the lead to eight for their largest lead of the night, but the Shockers cut it to three with under nine minutes to play. With 4:10 remaining in the half, Wichita State cut their deficit to just one. An and-one basket with 44.7 seconds remaining gave the Shockers their first lead since the 12:25 mark. Wichita State finished the half on an 8-0 run to go into halftime up 43-38.

Second Half:

Faye continued his hot night with three quick dunks to start the second half. A McHenry three gave WKU a 47-46 lead with 17:32 remaining in the half. He’d make a tough and-one basket and the free throw to bring him up to 19.

A five-minute scoring drought for the Hilltoppers helped the Shockers jump up 10 with 7:46 remaining in the half. A three-pointer by freshman guard Julius Thedford ended the drought.

WKU went 4-4 on field goals, sparking an 11-3 WKU run, cutting the lead to three with 22.9 seconds remaining.  The Shockers made nine free throws in the last 1:45 to hold off the Hilltoppers.

Sports Reporter Michael Givner Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

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