Wichita State Athletics
WICHITA, Kan. — Sometimes you just have to win ugly, and that's just what happened Monday night in Charles Koch Arena as Wichita State overcame its worst game of the season to complete a comeback win over Monmouth, 70-66.
Wichita State (4-0) was without starting center Quincy Ballard who missed the game with a sprained ankle, and Ronnie DeGray III got banged up in the first half, playing just eight minutes. Without two of its top rebounders, Wichita State was outrebounded by seven on the night, it largest margin of the season.
Eleven of Monmouth's 41 rebounds came on the offensive end.
Players not named Corey Washington were a combined 0-for-11 from three-point range. Washington scored a game-high 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 2-for-4 from three and 4-for-8 from the free throw line.
Entering the night Wichita State was shooting nearly 78 percent from the free throw line, but had its worst night of the season, going 20-for-31 (64.5 percent).
Harlond Beverly finished with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals on 7-of-11 shooting. Matej Bosnjak made his first career start in place of Ballard and logged 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting. Xavier Bell was the lone Shocker not to miss a free throw, going 8-for-8. He finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Justin Hill had an off night, missing all four of his three-point attempts and 8-of-12 field goals overall. He still managed to reach double figures with 11 and five assists.
From the opening tip the Shockers just seemed flat, falling behind 9-3 right out of the gates. They would settle in briefly to take a 15-11 lead with 12:06 remaining, but would not make a field goal for nearly 11 minutes. A Beverly layup with 1:14 to go in the half tied the score at 28-28 to snap the field goal drought.
On the next offensive possession, Hill and Beverly connected on the first of two alley-oops on the night to go up by one with 33 seconds left. Monmouth, however, would come right down and hit a jumper in the paint to give the Hawks a 31-30 lead at halftime.
Monmouth would carry that momentum into the second half, extending its lead to seven at the 14:34 mark.
The Hawks led for a majority of the half until back-to-back dunks from Beverly and Washington gave Wichita State its first lead with 4:39 to go. That lead quickly disappeared behind four straight from the Hawks to take a 58-56 lead.
Finally Washington's second triple of the night broke a 59-59 tie and just 1:39 on the clock, giving the Shockers a lead that they would not surrender. Washington pushed the margin to five on a breakaway dunk just 30 seconds later and Bosnjak made it a 65-59 game on a pair of free throws.
Monmouth splashed in a three-pointer with 26 seconds left, but Wichita State converted at the line to ice the game in the final seconds.
Up Next
Wichita State heads to Kansas City for the Hall of Fame Classic where they will face Saint Louis on Friday, Nov. 22 at 9:30 p.m. on Peacock.