Wichita State basketball’s spirited run in AAC tournament ends with loss to UAB

For a team in Wichita State’s position entering Fort Worth, the Shockers couldn’t have asked for a better situation than the one they found themselves in Friday.

Tied game, 6:51 on the clock and a spot in the American Athletic Conference tournament semifinals on the line.

But a disastrous 22-second sequence was too much for the Shockers to overcome, which brought an end to the first season under coach Paul Mills in a 72-60 loss to UAB at Dickies Arena.

“All you ask is that we have a chance,” Mills said. “We gave ourselves a chance.”

WSU finished with a 15-19 record, its first losing season since 2008. On the whole, the season was filled with frustrating losses down the stretch of close games, but the team did end on a strong note with some of its best play of the season in Fort Worth.

When asked if WSU fulfilled its potential this season, Mills said it was “hard to assess” but added that his first season in Wichita was “very enjoyable.”

“I enjoyed being around the guys every single day,” Mills said. “We’ve had 101 practices and there wasn’t a day I wasn’t excited to show up and see them and challenge them and find a way to get better. I’m grateful for all of the guys in our locker room.

“I know that moving forward we’ll continue to have a locker room full of guys who represent Wichita State well.”

It appeared as if the Shockers had one more upset left in them on Friday, as Xavier Bell scored six straight points to rally the team in front, 54-52, with 8:22 to play.

That’s when the game unraveled for WSU — quickly.

It began when WSU’s Bijan Cortes momentarily lost Efrem Johnson, then fouled him as his 3-pointer dropped in. Johnson missed the free throw, but WSU fouled again on the rebound and UAB’s Yaxel Lendeborg made two free throws to cap a five-point possession.

Seconds later, Bell’s pass attempting to break the press was tipped and stolen, which led to another UAB 3-pointer, this one by Daniel Ortiz.

In a matter of 22 seconds, WSU went from up two to down six. It never recovered.

“I don’t want to get into it right now, simply because, these guys have heard me talk about fouling 3-point shooters,” Mills said. “Those are hard things to come back from.”

The Shockers shot 39% from the field, as Beverly and Bell each scored a team-high 14 points. Quincy Ballard added 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, while leading scorer Colby Rogers was held to 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting after playing the entire 40 minutes.

With WSU playing its third game in three days and UAB with fresh legs in its first game, UAB coach Andy Kennedy thought that was a difference down the stretch.

“I knew it was going to take us a little bit to settle in, but I knew if we tried to win the physical battle because Wichita State is a very physical team, I felt like then the advantage would be ours in the last eight minutes,” Kennedy said. “Simply because you can try to psych yourself up all you want, playing three games in three days is difficult on your body.”

The first 10 minutes of play were extremely chippy between the two teams, culminating in an ejection of UAB starter Alejandro Vasquez, who had averaged 18 points across the previous four games. Vasquez and WSU’s Isaac Abidde were initially assessed double technicals, but Vasquez had his upgraded when officials deemed his punch to Abidde’s chest was worthy of a Flagrant 2.

The second half also saw a bizarre stoppage in play with 10:30 remaining to fix UAB’s rim. Both teams were sent to their benches for around 10 minutes, then given a two-minute warm-up time before play resumed.