Shockers Survive Tulsa’s Upset Bid, 72-69

TULSA, Okla. – Conner Frankamp and Landry Shamet scored 16 points each to help No. 5/5 Wichita State turn back Tulsa, 72-69, Saturday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The Shockers (15-2, 5-0 American Athletic Conference) extended the nation’s longest true road winning streak to 11 – one shy of the school record set by the 2013-14 team.

WSU hit 10 three-pointers on 29 attempts. Frankamp and Shamet made four-each. Markis McDuffie joined them in double-figures with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Sterling Taplin (6-of-10 from three) scored a game-high 26 points for Tulsa and handed out seven assists with one turnover. Former Shocker Corey Henderson Jr. finished with 14 points on 4-of-9 three-point shooting.

Tulsa (10-8, 3-3) hit 12 threes but missed two big ones in the final 20 seconds that would have turned the game.

With WSU leading 71-69, Henderson’s three-pointer for the lead spun in-and-out with 11 seconds to play, and the Shockers cleared the rebound.

Shamet converted the front-end of a one-and-one to give the Shockers a 72-69 advantage, but his second free throw missed the mark.

WSU fouled Taplin near midcourt to prevent a potential game-tying three.

Taplin – faced with a one-and-one of his own – missed short, but Tulsa’s Martins Igbanu snuck in for an offensive rebound and kicked out to Taplin for another three-point try. That heave beat the buzzer but bounced harmlessly off the iron.

The Shockers trailed 30-20 but ended the first-half on a 16-2 run.

Tulsa ran hot-and-cold most of the night. Over a 10-minute stretch spanning halftime, the Hurricane missed 12-of-13 shots from the field. They followed it with a 15-of-23 shooting stretch to get back into the ballgame.

Up 36-32 at halftime, WSU opened the second half on a 9-2 run to push the lead to double-digits.

The Shockers mustered just enough offense to stay in front. Frankamp twice nailed threes in the final three minutes to keep Tulsa at arm’s length.