WICHITA, Kan.— Tyson Etienne scored 21 of his career-high 26 points after halftime to help Wichita State rally past Oral Roberts, 85-80, Wednesday evening inside an empty Charles Koch Arena.
The Shockers (1-0) improved to 57-8 all-time in home openers at the Roundhouse, but fair to say, this one was the strangest. Due to county health mandate, capacity was capped at 100, including players, coaches, media and gameday staff.
Etienne – a sophomore guard from Englewood, N.J. -- was 8-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-9 from three and 6-of-7 at the foul line. He scored 17 points over the final 10:40 after the Shockers had fallen behind by nine points.
UConn graduate transfer Alterique Gilbert added 18 points in his Shocker debut, despite second-half foul trouble.
Junior forward Morris Udeze supplied 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks while clocking a career-high 27 minutes.
Clarence Jackson – a sophomore transfer from Polk State College – chipped in nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Wichita State struggled to contain the high-scoring duo of Max Abamas (28 points, eight assists) and Kevin Obanor (27 points, seven rebounds), who combined for 10 of ORU's 13 three-point field goals.
Abmas' basket with 10:48 to go gave the Golden Eagles (1-2) a 61-52 lead.
Enter Etienne. The WSU sophomore scored 17 points in less than six minutes to turn a nine-point deficit into a seven-point advantage.
ORU made one last push with Obanor's three-pointer tying the game at 78 with 3:53 remaining, but one minute later, Jackson hit a corner three to put WSU in front for good.
The Shocker defense came up with four stops over the final 90 seconds, including a turnover and two blocks, to preserve the lead after ORU had pulled to within 81-80.
Udeze dunked with 32 seconds left to make it a two-possession game, and Gilbert hit two free throws to give interim head coach Isaac Brown his first career victory.
Both sides shot better than 40 percent from three-point range. WSU hit 9-of-22 (.409) to ORU's 13-of-31 (.419).
Wichita State committed only seven turnovers and outscored ORU, 22-7 at the foul line.
Helped by Gilbert's 12 first-half points, WSU led 38-36 at the intermission.
NOTABLE:
- The Shockers are 1-0 for the 26th time in 28 seasons.
- WSU has won 24 of its last 25 home openers with the only loss coming to Louisiana Tech two years ago.
- The Shockers won their 16th-straight non-conference game at the Roundhouse. That streak is tied for the sixth-longest in school history.
- WSU has won 57 of its last 58 non-conference games at Charles Koch Arena, going back to 2011 (LA Tech, 2018).
- WSU improved to 9-5 all-time against ORU and won for the fourth-straight time.
UP NEXT:
WSU hosts Missouri on Sunday afternoon (1 p.m. CT, ESPN2) in the first meeting between the two programs since 1951.