A Philly gut-punch: Wichita State erases 17-point deficit, still loses at Temple

Wichita State avoided the embarrassment of rolling over for a blowout loss in its first road test in American Athletic Conference play.

But that was not much consolation after the Shockers rallied from 17 down in the second half to tie the game, only to lose 68-61 to Temple on Sunday afternoon at Liacouras Center.

It’s the third straight 0-2 start for WSU in conference play, as the Shockers (8-7) lost their fourth straight game and for the sixth time in the last seven games, while Temple (8-7) pulled through for its first AAC win.

“All losses hurt,” WSU head coach Paul Mills said. “I’ve been a part of a lot of basketball games and you’ve got to give basketball players credit, to the guys who made the plays. From my seat, you’ve got to ask the question, ‘Did we get quality opportunities? Was the ball in the right person’s hands?’ I think we’ll make some of these plays as the season progresses, but today you just have to tip your hat to (Temple).”

WSU climbed out of a 17-point hole in the second half to level the score with Temple at 59 on a Ronnie DeGray III layup with 3 minutes, 14 seconds remaining.

In the final three minutes, the game was simply decided by Temple making plays and WSU coming up empty.

With the score tied at 59 and WSU in possession of the momentum, Temple’s Sam Hofman drilled a contested 3-pointer to put Temple back in front.

After Kenny Pohto made a pair of free throws and DeGray came up with a steal, WSU had a shot in the air to take the lead. But it was a cold shooting night for leading scorer Colby Rogers (nine points on 4-of-15 shooting) and a 3-pointer he’s made countless times this season missed everything. Less than 10 seconds later, Temple star Hysier Miller (17 points, eight assists) pulled up in transition for a 3-pointer to put Temple ahead 65-61 with 1:51 left.

Still, WSU had plenty of chances. Pohto was fouled and missed a free throw in the bonus with 1:37 left. WSU forced another turnover at the other end, but Temple hounded DeGray and poked the ball loose for a turnover. The change in possession allowed Temple to run nearly a full minute off the clock.

A defensive stand gave WSU one final chance, trailing by four with the clock ticking under 40 seconds, but Rogers was stonewalled on his drive attempt and turned the ball over trying to throw over the top of 6-foot-10 forward Steve Settle (17 points, nine rebounds, six steals).

“Turnovers are the main thing for us right now,” WSU guard Xavier Bell said after the Shockers committed 18 turnovers. “It’s definitely something we can correct. We can tighten up our ball handling and decision making. We know those are the areas where we’re messing ourselves up in right now. It’s something in our control that we can all get better at.”

It’s hard to believe given the 17-point deficit, but Sunday’s game actually featured a strong start by WSU on the road in front of a healthy contingent of fans who made the road trip to Philadelphia.

The Shockers were finding success attacking the paint, finishing at the rim and limiting Temple to one shot on defense. Harlond Beverly had six points and three assists to spearhead a 19-10 start after 10 minutes.

But the encouraging start was soon swallowed up by one of the worst 10-minute stretches of the season for WSU.

Close shots that were falling began clanking off the rim for WSU, then its bugaboo — live-ball turnovers — reared its ugly head with multiple turnovers and missed shots that led to fast-break run-outs to jumpstart what had been a limp Temple offense.

WSU’s offense could only muster eight points in 21 possessions over the final 10 minutes of the first half, which included 20% shooting and six turnovers. The defense wasn’t much better, as the Shockers gave up 1.23 points per possession to a below-average offense.

“I thought our poor shot selection in the first half led to some of their buckets,” Mills said. “We knew we could clean some of that up and we did. I didn’t think this was an effort issue. I thought in the end, they made basketball plays and we didn’t.”

After falling behind by 17 points not long out of halftime, WSU began its charge back with a 10-2 run capped by a DeGray transition layup to trim Temple’s lead to 50-41 with more than 12 minutes still remaining. Bell and Pohto connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and suddenly, WSU was back to within a single possession. The final push came on a three-point play by Pohto, then a nice find from the Swedish big man for a DeGray layup to tie the score.

“Conference games are hard. There’s swings throughout,” Temple head coach Adam Fisher said. “I can’t wait, one of the first questions to me is going to be, ‘You were up this much, what happened?’ It’s conference. It’s what it is. It’s what all of the games are. It’s going to be a battle every night.”

Pohto came off the bench for the first time this season to score a team-high 14 points with six rebounds, three assists, a block and two steals. Dalen Ridgnal, who took his place in the starting lineup, delivered 16 rebounds in 30 minutes.

“I’ve been struggling with a little slump, but everybody comes out of it at some point,” Pohto said. “It feels good to be able to see a couple buckets go down and get back on track a little.

“We’ve just got to bring better energy for the whole game and limit our turnovers and get back in transition. Simple stuff. Little details. We have to get better.”

For the first time in nine games, WSU’s defense held an opponent under 1 point per possession (Temple finished at 0.92 PPP on 32.4% 3-point shooting on 37 attempts).

But the offense floundered in too many ways, as WSU had its second-lowest effective field goal percentage (41.5%) of the season and nearly matched its season high in turnover rate (24.2%).

In the midst of the losing streak, WSU players said the team is sticking together through its current rough patch.

“We’re bringing the right attitude to practice every single day,” Bell said. “We’re giving it our best effort. We know it’s a long season and it’s only two games in so far. We’re just trying to pick things up and we’re just looking to go 1-0 each day.”

Around 50 family members and friends of Rogers, who played high school ball in New Jersey, made the trip, while a few family members of Quincy Ballard, a Syracuse, N.Y. native, did the same. Even a few of Bell’s friends from his Drexel days playing in Philadelphia came.

Former director of operations Luke Gore, who left this summer to accept an assistant coaching job at Princeton, came in a Shocker hoodie and stayed afterward to chat with staff members and players.

Former WSU star Toure’ Murry, now a player development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, brought his family, clad in black and yellow, to the game to his support to his alma mater. Another former player, Ricky Council IV, now a current NBA player for the 76ers, showed up to catch up with former teammates like Isaac Abidde.

What could have been a raucous celebration in front of more than 100 WSU fans who made the trip to Philadelphia instead turned into a muted affair afterward on the court.